Sparrow Obsession
by Yuna Yami Mouto
Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.
1. Chapter 1

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

The crowds were as silent as the grave when the big, heavy metal doors creaked open to let through the line of people with soldiers on either side escorting them into the main courtyard at Fort Charles in Port Royal, Jamaica. None dared utter a whisper as chains clanked and shackles dragged against the cold stone ground under tired, resigned and fearful feet whose owners weer far off than said appendages. Drums vibrated throughout the courtyard, making the sorrowful, horrible scene even more dramatic than was needed and churning more than one stomach.

For once, the crowds gathered around the gallows was not eager to see the hangings.

Yes, hangings. As in more than one. Public hangings without a trial first to ascertain that the condemned was truly guilty of any crimes that deserved this final punishment. The third in five days now. Men, old and young, women, _children_ , all lined up like pigs for the slaughter, awaiting a noose, the 'short drop and sudden stop' so feared by all outlaws, no matter under which name they acted or called themselves. Even innocents at times were mingled with the criminals, boys and girls that had never done more wrong other than to listen to the adventures told by pirates or shared their blood and name. Each time, there was five lines of two dozen people, executed in groups of five. The first time had been a terrible surprise, since five children had been executed together, their mothers - not arrested that day but for the second execution - crying desperately their names, begging the soldiers to spare _children_. The oldest had been ten years old while the littlest was barely out of toddler-hood. They were executed with the same ropes that their fathers had hung from.

More than the mothers had cried and grieved when the young ones' necks snapped or they were suffocated, their legs stopping their kicking and wiggling. It was a horrifying sight and actually made people aware, for the very first time, just how cruel and horrifying their 'entertainment' was. Kids who had only the day before played with the damned were crying, infants were fussing and old men were cursing the soldiers, the Navy, the executioner and the condemner. The noise and the rebellion that had arose was quickly subdued and the very next day, the ones who had caused it were hanged with the next bout of pirates. The cries of loss drowned Port Royal and yet none of the marines or high society folk really cared.

All the people could do now was watch and silently weep at the new proceeding of pirates brought in. They were well aware that the two public executions they witnessed were not the only ones to have taken place, within this port or in any other. Merchants who had sailed in in the past week were spreading terrifying and blood-chilling stories about seeing sinking ships whose yardarms were decorated with hanging crewmen or witnessing passing Navy ships during an execution at sea, either by hanging or being shot right in front of their eyes. No one wanted to get the watch duty in the crows-nest anymore. Whoever stayed there for longer than an hour was bound to see something nightmarish in the distance. Not even the captains of their own vessels dared look through the telescope.

The proceeding of pirates and unfortunate people condemned for assisting them stopped in front of the gallows, staring at them with fear and resignation, yet with a certain air of defiance to their proudly raised heads. Even the women were glaring at the men leading them to their deaths and the 'judge' who had condemned them without any sort of a trail beforehand. The crowd, cowed as they were, could not help but admire the fire that still burned in their souls.

If they were ordinary folk, who relied on the law and its enforcers to keep them safe and bring about justice, had they been placed at the feet of their enemies, they would have spent heir last moments in despair, begging for their lives or praying to god for salvation or just staring listlessly at the floor with tears streaming down their faces. But pirates were a wholly different sort. They, despite whatever fear they felt, were not cowed with it. Pride surrounded them like a protective cloak, making them appear far more dignified than the gentlemen in their fancy suits or the soldiers in their crisp uniforms. The lowliest of whores stood more like a princess, a queen, a lady in these last moments than any of the noble born women watching with handkerchiefs over their mouths from the sidelines. Where anyone else would have lost hope for their own lives, these thieves, beggars, cutthroats, buccaneers - _pirates_ \- were holding onto the knowledge that they will be avenged, that their murderers will pay for their blood, that their souls will be held in honor by their fellow pirates and outlaws for the rest of time as victims for the greater good of the pirate way of life.

The pirates followed no law and obeyed no king, worked for no law and respected only the sea. Yet they knew, they _knew_ , that there will be nine pirates who will avenge their deaths and stop further executions like these. If for no one else, then for the women and children who were dragged into this. They had something to believe in more material and far more approachable than vague gods and religions, _far more human_ to believe in and they _knew_ these humans will make these arrogant cruel bastards pay.

The _Code_ demanded it.

The _Brethren Court_ will demand it.

The Pirate King will enforce it, for every pirate knew what the new King thought on freedom and these pompous English noblemen.

They might die today, but they were ready for that. The pirate way of life had them prepared for it with every breath they took. They no longer even had to fear death thanks to their Pirate King, since they will be ferried to the other side safely wherever they die. But even if they do die now, they will still continue to live on through those who survive.

The pirate way of life will never die and they can proudly proclaim this in their last moments and be honored to have led that life.

One boy looked up from where he was climbing onto the gallows with his older sister - a proudly standing sixteen year old whore that was selling her body just to put food on the table and dress her little brother - a neighbor and two pirates they had once fed out of pity and his young gaze focused on the three men that stood to watch over the hangings while being surrounded by soldiers as their guards.

The one on the left was a pirate in looks and the way he held himself, yet it was now a widely known fact that he held a Letter of Marque which kept him safe from the noose as long as he helped the Englishmen. He was in his late forties but held himself great, as though he had just entered adulthood just yesterday. Time had been merciful on him ... Or he had not been a pirate for too long. Both were possibilities and very probable. He had long, curly black hair and skin darkened by his time at sea. His nose, chin and forehead were distinctively Spanish while his lips and cheekbones could have been either French or English, it was hard to say under the long scar marring half his face. He was the one helping the Englishmen on his left with whatever they were planning on achieving with these executions.

The man on the far right is the one they all feared and hated at the moment. Tall, old - in his seventies or early eighties, a miracle he looked so good and could still fight - with a handsome face weathered away by the tides of time and bitterness, a straight back and only a cane to indicate his age had any effects on him, dressed in admiral's clothing, he looked down upon them with hate and disgust, never showing glee at their deaths but also never considering them humans, either. In his eyes, they have learned, pirates are not people but mere savages whom he wanted to rid the world of. His cold green eyes sneered down his nose at them and he held no emotion whatsoever when he ordered each drop. The older pirates knew his face and his name, had once upon a time feared him. He should have been retired almost twenty years ago yet here he still was, hunting them down once again like he once used to.

And in between the traitor of the Code and the rehired retired Admiral stood a nobleman of English blood. He was fairly young, perhaps in his late twenties at best, with long light brown hair tied neatly in a small ponytail at the back of his nape, which was strange enough for him not to be wearing those stuffy powdered wigs, brown eyes twinkling with a strange light in the sun as he watched the proceedings with an air of half boredom and half anticipation. Those who lived long enough to see the last few moments of these executions, while they had the noose around their necks, have seen him pout like a spoiled child denied their favorite treat and carried that image with them to the other world in confusion. He was always dressed in fine clothing that would not impair his movements and was fairly simple in contrast to the outfits other noblemen saw fit to wear. Yet the simple elegance of his appearance made it clear he was indeed of higher and richer stature than them in society. His skin was only the slightest bit tanned, probably from his voyage to the Spanish Main, and he didn't look like a sailor although he was built as a fine swordsman would be. He was tall, almost as tall as Port Royal's own Commodore had been.

And in his hands he always carried a little leather-bound book, leafing through it while each hanging was prepared and often looking out at the horizon, as though searching for something.

He now met the little boy's - only eleven - gaze without any guilt or hesitation in his own before turning to speak with the pirate. "It absolutely must be sung?"

"Aye," the pirate replied as he stared at his fellow pirates down below without pity.

"Are you sure these uneducated lot will know it?" The nobleman asked again while the old Admiral sneered at their conversation.

" _The King and his men_

 _Stole the Queen from her bed_

 _And bound her by her bones,_ " all three men looked up when a small, delicate, young voice sang softly from down below. In a scary mimicry of the first time the song had been sang in Port Royal, it was the youngest on the gallows that had begun the song that all pirates were taught the second they turned to piracy and the little boy glared in defiance at his 'judges'. " _The sea be ours_

 _And by the powers_

 _Where we will we'll roam._ "

"Aye, they know it. Every buccaneer and pirate and even privateer knows it, for it is the only protection us lot have from the likes of you." The pirate replied with a feral grin that would have made a lesser man flinch. "The entire song must be sang for it to work, though."

" _Yo ho, haul together_

 _Hoist the colors high!_

 _Heave-ho, thieves and beggars_

 _Never shall we die!_ "

The haunting song continued even as the nobleman nodded and gestured for the executioner to stall. "Will this be enough?" He gestured with the hand that still tightly held the book at the number of pirate slowly joining in on the song. The boy and his sister led the next chorus.

" _Now some have died_

 _And some are alive_

 _And others sail the sea_

 _With the keys to the cage_

 _And the devil to pay_

 _We lay to Fiddler's Green."_

"Aye, it be enough. If they finish the song." The pirates were now clinking their chains and stomping their feet in rhythm with the song, all heads held high as they sang the refrain together like it was a hymn of salvation. To them, it might as well have been.

"But how will they know if it has been sung?" It was a part that had never been fully explained in the book he held onto so securely. The nobleman refused to let anything slip him by. "They're sailing the seas all over the world! No way word will reach any of them anytime soon."

" _The bell has been raised_

 _From its watery grave._

 _Hear its sepulchral tone?_

 _A call to all_

 _Pay heed the squall_

 _And turn your sails towards home._ " Everyone was now singing, on the gallows, in the line awaiting their turn, in the prison cells awaiting their own appointment with the noose the next day, even a few citizens of Port Royal joined in on the refrain again. The song echoed throughout the harbor and beyond, all passing by pirates taking off their hats and joining in on the shanty, understanding the graveness of the situation and turning sails away from Jamaica. Those poor buggers were already done for. It made no sense for them to be executed as well, now did it?

The pirate who worked for the nobleman took out a coin and tossed it to him, the coin doing a few flips before it landed in the awaiting palm. He gestured for him to put it his ear and both of the gentlemen did as bid, not understanding. The piece of eight was just an ordinary coin, as far as they could tell. "That be a special coin each pirate be carrying on their person for as long as they live. It is so that, should it come to it that the song is sang, those who must heed the call will hear it."

"I don't understand." The Admiral was grumbling beside the confused man about bloody pirates and heathen magic.

"You'll see." Was all he said as the chorus was repeated one last time.

" _Yo ho, haul together_

 _Hoist the colors high!_

 _Heave-ho, thieves and beggars_

 _Never shall we die!_ " Most fell silent, as though not sure of what further to do and the executioner's hand reached towards the leaver that would drop the boards from under their feet when the same boy continued the next verse. A new verse not even the pirate explaining the song had heard of. " _When monsters and gods_

 _Feast on the men_

 _Black sails sail the sea_

 _The beast is dead_

 _And the devil is caged_

 _The King is who we need._ " Again the chorus was sang by all pirates and they next joined the boy when he began the second new verse that the traitorous pirate had not heard. " _He opened the cage_

 _And he sees the devil free_

 _Winds blow in our sails_

 _The sea is not bound_

 _And the final hours_

 _Sees his spirit free._

 _Yo ho, all hands together_

 _Hoist the colors high!_

 _Heave-ho, thieves and beggars_

 _Never shall we die._ "

"What is this?" The pirate asked himself, drawing the attention of his two companions. "Those are not the words of the song!"

"They seem to fit, though." The Admiral argued pointedly, looking on in interest as the pirate was turning interesting shades of white and gray.

"What is the song truly about?" The youngest of the trio asked, staring into the boy's defiant eyes with his own intrigued ones. "Surely not just a mere call to arms?"

"It speaks of Davy Jones, the sea goddess Calypso and the Brethren Court. This part ... It must be about the new Pirate King that was voted two years ago." The cutthroat realized, paling further. "It has to be about him! There is no other explanation!"

" _When the ghosts are here_

 _And the devil is near_

 _We sail under his flag_

 _With the power of the sea_

 _Follow forever will we_

 _Him to the End and beyond!_ " The eyes of the pirates was burning with a light of hope that had been wholly absent just mere minutes ago. They had resigned themselves to their fate, they had not thought to sing the song. But it had to be done and they proudly joined their voices together one last time.

" _Yo ho, haul together_

 _Hoist the colors high!_

 _Heave-ho, thieves and beggars_

 _Never shall we diieee!_ "

"Cut that boy lose." The nobleman ordered just as the executioner, recognizing the end of the shanty, pulled the leaver. The Admiral shouted the order just as they all dropped, five necks snapping mercifully - as opposed to when the poor bastards struggled until they properly suffocated, sometimes for hours - and a little body hit the ground, his rope laying over his head as he dazedly opened his confused eyes, a piece of eight falling from his clenched hands.

The piece of eight held up to their ear suddenly gave a hum and both Englishman looked at it in stupefied surprise before the younger of the two broke into an elated grin. He looked at the young boy weeping up at his sister's hanging corpse and almost cheerfully ordered.

"Bring the boy to me."


	2. Chapter 2

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

"Please sit," the nobleman asked of the boy who had only died just an hour ago, already lounging in his own comfy chair with a goblet of brandy in hand. "I do not wish to seem a bad host. Sit. Make yourself at home, lad."

"I can't, _sir_ ," said lad spat out with contempt, a glare on his young, dirty face. "I don't have one anymore."

"Ah, but that can be remedied. If you just answer a few of my questions." The man replied cheerfully, sipping his drink. "See? A pretty good deal, yes? A pardon and a new home, all to yourself? I'll even add enough money to last you a year. How does that sound?"

"Like a bribe," the boy spat again, glare turning more disgusted and hateful by the minute. "A bad one. Especially compared to my _sister's life_."

"Oh," the man said in thoughtful realization, not really paying attention to the lad, having opened his little leather book again and reading through it for who knows which time with the same interest he had when he had first read it. "I am sorry for that."

"No you're not."

The man looked up to regard the boy for a moment before nodding. "No I'm not. It helped me achieve what I needed and that was for the song to be sang. Which you did."

"You didn't let us go free after we sang it, though." The younger one accused with enough venom to kill an elephant.

"Never said I would, my dear boy." The boy's hate only grew at the flippant words of this stranger. As though dozens of lost lives was nothing to him. "I only care about the song from you lot. Except you." He added as an afterthought, eyes straying to the book and a small smile broke out on his lips before disappearing with the snap of the book so he can pay his full attention to the little pirate-helper in front of him. "You seem to know the whole song and you sang it without hesitation. So you must hold some of the information I am most interested in."

"I won't tell you anything about our ways!"

"Ooh, _our_ ways, is it?" The man chuckled again. "A pirate now, are you?"

"I will kill you for what you did to my sister. Sophie was _innocent_!" The boy, this Sophie's brother, yelled and made to lunge at the nobleman but the pirate that accompanied him earlier held him back with a bruising grip.

"Do you know who I am, boy?" The pirate snarled. His only answer was spit in his face. He growled and backhanded the boy with enough force to send him sprawling near the opposite wall. "I am Captain Tristan Mourney of the Red Devil and you will show me some respect, you little bastard!"

"Now, now, Captain. That is no way to treat our guest." The Englishman chided while the Admiral just sneered like it was his default reaction to anything pirate related. "But if we are making introductions, mind telling us your name, lad?"

"Matthew Simmons, you coward." He got another slap for that and was only saved from more abuse when the nobleman snapped at Mourney.

"That will be enough from you." He glared while rightening the boy. "Nice to meet you, Matthew. You're a right brave lad. Do you know who I am?"

"My sister's murderer." Came the bitter reply as the child fought back tears. Pirates don't cry! He'd seen a _real_ pirate on the same gallows he had been standing on, four years ago, and that pirate hadn't cried even when he had nearly hanged, dancing on a thin sword's blade. He won't cry, either!

The nobleman sighed, exasperatedly. "My name is Prince George Henry VII of England, but you can call me Henry, as I hate the name George. It's my father's." The little one's eyes had widened in shock and some fear and Henry smiled. Good. He might cooperate now. "Will you answer some of my questions?"

"Not likely." The boy said with fake bravado, his hands shaking but refusing to be cowed. Henry had to admire his bravery even in the face of his fear. Maybe he should have chosen a less fiery one to question.

"I'll ask anyway." The Prince decided and settled back in his plush chair. "Where did you learn the song?"

"Last time it was sang here, two years ago, _your highness_." He spat out the tittle and Henry tried not to get ticked off by a mere child.

"Do you know its meaning? Its purpose?"

" _Obviously_." It was beginning to become clear to Henry why Mourney had struck the boy. But at least he was answering his questions. That's all that mattered.

"My pirate comrade tells me that the last three verses are new and he does not know them. Might you tell us why is that?" The Prince inquired next and Matthew smirked at them smugly. He was still smelling of his mother's milk yet he held himself with such pride and stared powerful men like them in the eye. Skinny, blond, dirty with doleful eyes, he should have been quacking with fear yet the only indication he felt any at all was the little tremble his small hands held. Although that might be more from the heavy iron shackles than fear. He was still only a weak, starved little kid, after all.

"Because it was added over the two years to honor the new Pirate King, who had united the pirates of the seven seas and defeated the EITC's army and freed the sea goddess Calypso and Davy Jones, earning their favor and letting pirates sail free undisturbed for half a year." The boy answered proudly, confirming Mourney's theory. The man didn't look all that pleased that he had been right. Mostly because that meant that the Brethren Court was united and he no longer had an excuse for betraying them as he had once with the certainty that they will never be able to do anything or agree on it. He had run to Beckett because he was saving his own hide, especially from the Keeper since he had broken the Code more than once. It had been sheer luck that had kept him alive this long. He had heard of the Battle of Calypso's Maelstrom as they call it now and he knew what happened. The survivors said it all with horror in their voices and nightmares in their eyes. But the Pirate King's identity had remained a mystery outside of the pirate folk.

"And who is the Pirate King?" The Prince asked while the Admiral and Mourney watched carefully, listening with an intensity born only of their own interests.

"Like I'd tell you if I knew," Matthew snorted, turning away with a pout. "No one talks about it. They're all hush hush when it comes to his name."

"To be expected." The Admiral grunted. "They must be protecting his identity so we don't know who to hunt down first if we want to destroy them."

"That doesn't even matter now," Henry waved them off, his mind focused on something completely different. "Tell me, boy. Have you ever heard of Cutler Beckett?" Matthew nodded warily, not sure where he was going with this. "Do you know he was a Lord?" A nod. "And that he was the head of the East India Trading Company?" Another nod. "How about that he was a very close friend of mine?"

"I didn't know that," the little wannabe pirate boy said hesitantly and Henry just smiled at him.

"Of course not, how could you!" He said with a sad smile that still didn't dampen his strange cheer. "But the fact of it all was that he was. I looked up to him, in a way, when I was younger. He always had these most amazing stories to tell me. Do you know what they were about?"

Matthew shook his head, curious.

Henry's smile turned excited and nostalgic all at once. "Pirates. Or rather, one peculiar pirate." This indeed made the boy even more curious and he leaned closer towards his captor despite himself. What child did not like a good pirate story, right? "But he was not some ordinary pirate. He was very, very special."

"Oh dear god," Tristan rolled his eyes and went over to the cabinet in one end of the room to take an entire bottle of brandy for himself. He and the Admiral exchanged sneers while he passed him and then he just plopped down in the free chair meant for Matthew, settling himself to get bloody drunk.

"You see, Cutler was like an uncle to me. He'd come visit me and tell me stories of this great pirate. He was ... fascinated by him and he always kept a close eye on him. It would be very poor of him to lose such an interesting and most useful, profitable asset, after all. I always asked him what the pirate was like." He reminiscent with a boyish grin. "Cutler always said that he didn't really look like much but was still positively the best pirate there ever was since he was favored by luck and was gifted with smarts and education uncommon even among royalty, let alone outlaws like pirates. And he was an escape artist and a negotiator the likes of which politics have never seen or heard of before. Cutler used to tell me that he could talk a bullet into changing direction not to hit him. Said he had courted Death so she wouldn't take him. That he must be blessed by some strange heathen gods to have been able to survive the crazy and awe inspiring stunts he did on a daily basis."

"Dear lord above, he was obsessed!" The only Navy man present choked on his own drink in startlement at the realization, staring at the gently smiling Prince.

"No, not quite obsessed if you ask me. He was ... fascinated, charmed, intrigued! And a little possessive. You see, he wanted that pirate to stay in his employ and not only for his captaining skills but for his wits and his tongue. Cutler always said that if there was ever one thing he ever regretted, it was allowing that pirate to slip between his fingers. For you see, as formidable an ally that he made, this pirate was twice if not trice as formidable a foe." The royal revealed as though it were a secret and little Matthew had for the moment forgotten all about his burning hatred for this man. "Cutler burned his ship and let it sink, yet not even two months later the pirate was seen sailing a similar ship, near identical but for the color. The black hull and sails."

"The Black Pearl!?" It was Mourney who was choking on his drink now, no longer sprawled across the chair and careless. Instead, he was paler than he had been when he had learned that there was indeed a Pirate King sailing the seas. "You can't be talking about that blighter, Jack Sparrow?!"

"Indeed I am."

"Should've known from the start! Beckett's been mad about him! Every third word was about Sparrow! Sparrow this, Jack that, keep the helm steady, Jack would have been able to sail us gently through this storm, not so close to the coastline, Jack told me there are coral rifts there, how could you rip the sails like that, Sparrow would have never done something like that!" The pirate spat in disgust and Henry frowned at the spit on his previously clean floors. "The man was obsessed! Positively mad! Bonkers! He's worse than that bloody idiot who sailed after Sparrow into that hurricane at Trinidad!" He turned to look at the Admiral with contempt. "All offense completely intentional, Admiral _Norrington_."

Matthew pointed an accusing finger at the old man. "He's not the Commodore! The Commodore is a nice, _good_ man and _way_ younger than him!"

Reinstated Admiral Lawrence Norrington glared at the little brat as he answered Mourney. "My ... son is indeed an idiot, but I do not blame him for his commitment to his duty. His ship would not have sank had he been a better commander and his men would not have died had they been better prepared. However, I do begrudge him other sins that he has committed by condoning piracy."

"The Commodore's a pirate?" Matthew asked in confusion.

"Yes, he turned pirate when he helped Jack Sparrow escape two years ago. Cutler envied him greatly for getting Sparrow." Henry replied calmly while Lawrence was now seething, reminded of his son's unforgivable indiscretions. "I envy him as well. You see, I inherited Cutler's wish to have Jack Sparrow at my side. Cutler made it impossible for himself because he burned down his beloved ship, the Wicked Wench, which Captain Sparrow then magically got back as the Black Pearl thanks to Davy Jones himself. I, however, have not made such a grave mistake or committed such an unforgivable crime in Sparrow's eyes. I still have the chance to bring Jack around to my side." He smiled wistfully and Matthew shuddered at a cold glint that was there, deep beneath the sunny layer. He didn't know what it was but it didn't bode well for the legendary pirate Captain.

"Captain Jack Sparrow is the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean." Matthew lifted his chin up in challenge. "The pirates that sail in the Caribbean Sea are under his protection. Killing the pirates that are 'his' will not put you in his good books."

"Ah, but I already know all about him!" The Englishman grinned even more brightly. "I know he is a part of the Brethren Court and that his domain is the Caribbean. I know he will be expected to react. I am _looking forward to it_. For it will give me a chance to meet him." He lifted the little leather book he had not let go of since he had been in the courtyard for the execution. "Cutler kept a journal. Every third sentence is about Jack Sparrow. I know more about him than you pirates do. The last thing he wrote was that he, Davy Jones and the ghost of Capitán Armando Salazar are to meet Jack for parley the night before the grand Battle of Calypso's Maelstrom. A sailor brought it back in a chest that had miraculously survived Jones' attack on the Endeavor. It was written in his will that I am to inherit it. I was both saddened and elated, for he had never told me all of the stories and he never before let me touch his journal. I have spent two years reading every story, every report of Jack Sparrow's activities and searching for him out on the sea, but we can never find him. We could never keep up. So I requested of my father, the King, to let me sail to the Spanish Main with our most accomplished and most _loyal_ pirate hunter to date to repay the pirates in kind for the humiliation they did upon us by not only killing a Lord and destroying a third of the EITC's armada, but for also taking one of our Commodores - and _Admiral_ by then - and two Lieutenants into their filthy business and my father agreed. So I came here and I did what Cutler has proven to be successful. I hunted and hanged pirates. Well, Admiral Norrington did." He gave a little shrug. "I just stood to the side and watched."

Matthew's lips curled up in disgust. "You mean to tell me you've killed all of those people just to get Captain Sparrow's attention?"

Henry chuckled at the accusatory disgust in his tone, opening the book to gaze at whatever it was that had him always in such a pleasant mood. He was racing something in one of the pages as he answered. "Many have done more and worse for much less than his attention, little Matthew."

"He'll stop you." The youngest in the room insisted. Mourney and Norrington snorted. "He will! The Kraken had not been enough to hold him back! He'll come and stop you!"

"I sure do hope so." The Prince revealed with a grin. "I would so like to meet an exotic being like him. He is not meant for the life he was saddled with. Cutler knew that, but he messed up. I promise you that I won't. I'll take him back to England with me and lavish him with all the jewels and gold his black little heart might desire, give him a life of luxury he could only deserve for being such a unique specimen."

"You're mad!" Matthew exclaimed and lunged for the royal once more and was, once again, restrained by Mourney. However, he didn't spit in his face this time. Instead, he struggled and kicked and squirmed as best as his little body would allow until Mourney got sick of it and knocked him out with a careful blow to the head. Lawrence had turned away to look at something else while Henry just watched on impassively, face unreadable. He then called for the guards and gestured to the out cold child in the pirate's hold.

"Take him to the gaol and make sure he stays there. I have a few more questions I'd like to ask."


	3. Chapter 3

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

Little Matthew was a lot more pirate than he had allowed his appearance to suggest, or his life style. While never actually being on a ship in his young life, Matthew Simmons had picked up a few other tricks from the nicer buccaneers who visited his sister. Those same pirates would be very proud of how much of his lessons from them Matthew had taken to heart and never forgot. He knew how to take a blow and not fall unconscious from it while _pretending_ that it was so, he had learned how to track his steps and directions through almost completely closed eyes, he had learned to retrace those same steps, to pick a lock, sneak around, knock out someone twice his size and to move in the shadows in a way that would suggest it was only your imagination that something had moved in the corner of your eye.

But the most popular lesson going around the Caribbean as of late was waiting for, recognizing and seizing the opportune moment, as originally taught by Captain Jack Sparrow himself. Matthew had even been taught by the man himself just four years ago, when he had been observing which ship to commandeer and accidentally ran into Matthew trying to steal a bucket full of fish from a fisherman so he and Sophie might eat something that night but the fisherman had been grumpy and watching his catch like a hawk. The eccentric pirate Captain had stopped his search for a good ship long enough to push over a bucket of fish guts into his boat 'by accident' and then walk away after a stream of apologies, walk up to Matthew and whisper one thing to him.

"Always wait fer th' opportune moment, laddy. Or make yer own."

With that, Jack Sparrow had walked away and gotten into his own bucketful of trouble while Matthew had ran off with the fish and he and Sophie had enough food for two weeks when distributed carefully.

That had been the only time he had ever seen Captain Sparrow in person but it had been as memorable to the boy as it had been to anyone else who ever crossed paths with Captain Jack Sparrow and he had been watching, learning, adapting ever since, carefully teaching himself what the opportune moment in each situation might be.

It now allowed him to pretend to be knocked out, swipe the key off of the guard, sneak out of his cell, knock out the guard on duty and stole away in the night. He then, unknowingly, followed Elizabeth Swann's footsteps and snook up onto the first ship that was leaving the harbor with the morning tide. It all took barely three hours before he found himself hiding in the cargo hold of a small merchant ship and slipping into real unconsciousness after the long day he had had. He woke up hours later, with the ship long since having left Port Royal behind, on the open sea with sailors singing lewd shanties and telling jokes that caused the innocent little brother of a whore to blush like a virgin. Which he was, but that's not the point.

He kept carefully underway, making sure no one sees him when they come in to get food or drink and eating a little food twice a day to keep his stomach full but careful not to dent the ship's supplies too much. He kept eavesdropping on the conversations of the officers to figure out where they were heading and just what his chances were of finding someone who he can take a message to anyone who might be able to then pass it on to Jack Sparrow. Because he _must_ tell the eccentric Captain what was going on and that he was essentially the target of a mad Prince.

A few days in, an interesting conversation caught his attention when two sailors ventured down to get some dried meat.

"Did ya hear? They say Norrington's back!"

"The Commodore? I thought he turned pirate with that Sparrow bloke?"

"Yes, well, not _that_ Norrington." The first one told his companion as he snook a few sips out of a bottle of rum, sounding distressed by their topic of conversation. "Commodore Norrington be a right good bloke, even when he was huntin' my hide with every other pirate in the Caribbean."

"There's another pirate-hunting Norrington?" The second man asked in incredulous humor. "Must be in the blood, eh?"

"'Tis no laughin' matter! Commodore Norrington didn't hunt privateers! Only pirates! This Norrington, _Admiral_ Norrington, hunted us all!" The first man exclaimed, looking around as though he expected the old man to jump out from behind one of the crates and hang him on the spot.

His friend paled considerably. Matthew realized that they themselves must be privateers and a surge of hope flared within his heart. Pirates and privateers and merchants avoiding taxes all sailed into one harbor that was a truly _safe_ harbor for their kind: Tortuga. And that's where he knew from rumors that the pirate he was seeking frequented quite often. Chances were, he'll be able to find Captain Sparrow there.

"E-everyone?"

"Yes, some said he's as bad as El Matador Del Mar, but that's bogus since the Brethren Court had to assemble for 'im. But he should be, like, seventy, eighty years old by now. Retired, from what I've heard."

"Then why's he here again?" That's what Matthew wanted to know, too. Why _would_ and elderly gentleman with a successful career risk it all by going out to hunt pirates - _Captain Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl_ , no less! - again at his age when there were younger and more capable men up to the task? "His estranged son?"

"Could be. Then again, he's been right obsessed with a pirate himself." The first man nodded to himself as if to confirm his own thought.

"Eh? What do ya mean?"

"Well, _Commodore_ Norrington was obsessed with Sparrow, aye?"

"Aye, everyone knew that. Sailed into a storm after him." Matthew had heard about that, but only half baked rumors. He wondered if he'll ever hear the whole story. It sounded adventurous enough.

"Yes, well, his Da, _Admiral_ Norrington was right obsessed with another pirate. A certain Captain Teague of the Misty Lady. Hunted him on the seven seas until he were forced into retirement by old age and years of service."

"What!?"

 _'What?'_ Matthew echoed the sentiment to himself.

"Aye. And it be a right coincidence that Sparrow were supposedly close with Teague."

"Close?"

"No one knows how, per see. Only that they're 'close'."

"Ironic is what it is." Matthew had to agree with that, frowning in thought. "Ya think he came back for another shot at Teague?"

"Probably." The first man shrugged as he finally picked up the crate with dried meat and the two sailors went back up onto the deck to hand out lunch, their conversation fading away. Left there by himself, Matthew picked up an apple and got lost in thought.

00000

Sailing through a mist as thick as this one was every sailors nightmare, a dark woman thought as she stood by the railing above the figure head of a beautiful but rotting ship. She looked out at the murky water and the white-gray cloud that surrounded the vessel and a fire surged within her that seemed to make the waves crash angrily against the hull of the magnificent vessel that was each day covered by more and more seaweed. She gazed in rage at what lay in front of her, dainty hands threatening to split the railing into splinters, into sand dust and a wind picked up that turned the air colder than the Arctic.

A hand on her shoulder, colder and wetter than it should be, brought her out of her rage and the dark skinned, dark haired beauty looked over her shoulder and dreadlocked hair to the one touching her. It was a fine, handsome man in his later stages of life, looking somewhere between forts and sixty with graying brown hair and long beard and ice blue eyes that could be as cold as their color or be as warm as a sunny summer's day. His once fine clothing was becoming tattered and his skin was colder with each day, slimier, too, which only angered the woman more. She hated the fact that his red lips were now no longer distinguishable, turning green and cold, that beneath some of his thick beard two tentacles had replaced hair, that he was losing control of the individual fingers on one hand while the fingers on the other seemed to be moving on their own.

But the worst of all, the thing that made the seas roar under the ship, was the look of resignation in the eyes she loved so much. Resignation and fear, so intense that it made her stomach churn and her heart clench in pain for his suffering. He has resigned himself to this fate again, of not being human but with how he was now, after all they had been through, he was not quite a monster either. He was that something in between that only made his pain more insufferable, for he belonged to neither world and was a freak to both.

And she, for all her power, could barely slow it down. Her presence was his greatest comfort, so she had taken to sailing on his ship with him. But that won't do in the long run. She was who she was, who she has always been and who she will always be. She cannot stay like this for much longer. It will put a strain to her own very soul while her absence will torment his. And she could not take his suffering after they had just reconciled - according to their timeless conceptions. Two years was far too short of a blissful life - or as blissful as it can be for them - and she was no more ready to let go of it than he was.

"Ya must calm yerself, my love," he spoke up in his gravely voice and she felt some of her anger ease out of her. Just a little bit, but it now contained her rage in the deep, the surface deceptively calm. "They've suffered enough already. Let 'em 'ave their peace as they pass to th' other side."

"Dey should not 'ave suffered 't all!" She fumed, her grip on the rails tightening once more, making the endurable wood protest. "Ye should not suffer like dis! Ye're doin' yer job! Ya deserve no punishment!"

"I am not doin' it good enough." The Captain of this plague ship replied solemnly. "I ferry souls and souls for days on end, but I don't take all th' souls over b'fore more are waitin' fer their turn. So I am bein' put on trail. Fergive m' fer not bein' quite good enough."

She whirled around at the defeat and shame in his voice, taking his face between her hands without paying head to the tentacles or the slime that should never have been there in the first place. "'Tis not yer fault, me love. Yer dojn' de best ya can in such a situation da devil's own luck wouldn't've been enough ta help." She looked away and her dark eyes settled on the sea again. A sea littered with dead and dying bodies, sharks, seagulls, debris and ship parts. A sea floating with souls of those same dead. Some had their necks snapped from a noose, others wore stab wounds and there were those who had been shot to death. More still were there bodies blown apart by cannonballs and powder or burned by fire and rum. The stench of death was as sickening as the sight of it was.

Her rage grew at the weeping and begging haunting the air. It grew and grew until it could have been all consuming ... And then the sea shuddered, rattling the ship - every ship and boat in the entire world, making the woman stumble. Her beloved caught her around the waist and steadied her to the best of his ability, also shaken by that shudder. Behind them, the crew - in much the same condition as their Captain - hollered orders and profanities as they did their best to not fall overboard and continue the ship sailing.

The lost souls were howling in rage and delight, in _vengeance_ before they fell contentedly quiet, awaiting their right to board the Flying Dutchman and be ferried to the other side.

Davy Jones looked up from where he was holding and steadying his wife, eyes focused far into the distance. "The song has been sung." He shuddered when a chill descended the air as the souls gave another vengeful cry. The sea calmed from its shuddering at last, becoming almost as still as the waters in the Locker and at World's End.

The woman in his arms looked absolutely delighted by this proceeding of events. "Da Brethren Court's been summon'd. Ya will soon b' free of dis wretched curse, love." She said with vicious excitement. Jones knew why she was like this. It meant her first, second and third champions were about to head out to an adventure the likes of which curled most men's blood with a deathly chill of fear. "An' no more souls will pass dan it be a must."

"Will they heed the call?" Sao Feng had done many things just to avoid doing so and he had only agreed upon hearing about them having and possibly freeing Calypso. And one other always sought to avoid meeting his relatives at the Cove. And another was still sour about being called to and fro like a common mutt every now and then.

"Dey will." Calypso assured with a purr. "Wait fer me, Davy. I must meet wiff da King."

The Captain of the Flying Dutchman watched the sea goddess depart his ship for the first time in days, shaking his head. Jack Sparrow and his incredible luck might be just what they need. If this were to continue for much longer ...

Well, Captain octopus face would be back. Jones rather liked being human again, thank you. And he's even been diligently doing his job! It was not a deserved punishment this time around.

"I hope ya can come up with one of yer crazy schemes, Jack Sparrow, 'cause the sea and all her children needs ya." He said under his breath before focusing once more on boarding the souls of the dead to be ferried to the other side.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

It was a busy night, bound to bring plenty of coin for the inn keeper of the famous Faithful Bride, a bar and brothel in the fun-loving, chaos-ridden, pirate-infested, rum and dung smelling port known as Tortuga as one pair of solemn black eyes gazed around the room, a bottle of rum in one hand, a strange little Compass in the other, for once completely solitary despite there being plenty of his crewmen and accountancies just a few tables away. Or a nice, pretty whore that could keep him company. Yet this one man was the only person in the pub all by himself while other celebrated, gambled, snored, mourned, argued, fought, played cards, cheated at said card games, cheered, indulged in depravity and snored together all around him and his table.

It was not because he was a scary or ugly or scarily ugly individual that he was by his lonesome self. It wasn't because he was particularly cruel or drunk or stank too much, like it would have been the case with anyone else. It was definitely not because he was a pirate! That'd be absurd in this port. He wasn't covered in blood or guts or dung, either, nor did he have his weapons drawn. There were three other chairs available at his table, so it wasn't the lack of seating arrangements, either. All in all, he was a pretty much normal guy and yet he sat alone in this one port where no one feels left out.

He was a very handsome man of a good age, not too young and not too old. Some would say he was at the prime of his youth. He had long hair in braids and dreadlocks and some free strands, reaching a little past his shoulders, with trinkets from all over the world woven into his hair, clinking with every movement. The most eye catching one was braided into a long dreadlock that reached his upper chest just barely and falls over his heart when he tilts his head the slightest bit downwards; a black pearl of an impressive size, an honor given by a worthy opponent for _being_ a worthy opponent. Around the black mess that was characteristic to only two pirates in the world was a silk bandanna of a very nice red color, from the top of it hanging an even more important trinket, far more valuable than even the exotic pearl that nearly blended in with the pirate's hair. There was a gleaming coin that clinked with each tilt of the pirate's clever head, resting close to a white fish bone.

More trinkets were woven into the goatee the man sported, two little braids just beneath his chin, beneath his full mouth that remained surprisingly soft in a sea scalawag, a sailor, above which rested a bushy, stylish mustache. A tricone hat rested on the table beside a few empty bottles of rum.

The pirate's skin was strangely smooth for a sailor but was deliciously tanned from a lifetime out at sea, in the open, under the warm Caribbean sun. His lean frame was covered by a white linen short, a west, a sash around his waist where his gun and cutlass were safely tucked away. His breeches were snug, tight and dark, almost matching his greenish dark gray coat in color, disappearing into his leather boots.

All in all, he was one of the cleaner and handsomer pirates out there with only a few teeth missing, replaced by golden ones. While he might not look like much or all that fearsome, he was actually one of the most famous and feared pirates in the seven seas, the Captain of the fastest ship to have sailed on it yet. His name and reputation are known far and wide, which only made it all the more strange for him to sit alone when he was usually a man who enjoyed all pleasures in life with abandon.

For a pirate who had faced the Butcher of the Sea, the East India Trading Company, cursed skeleton pirates, angry pirates, drunk pirates, angry marines, drunk marines, the noose, that new French invention the guillotine not so long ago, Davy Jones himself, the Kraken, death, angry Lords and duty-bound Commodores, marooning (twice), mutiny (also twice), numeral betrayals (how he was alive was a mystery to all), angry wenches, angry husbands, angry wives, angry brothers, angry sisters, angry mothers, angry brides and grooms, that one angry monk and three angry priests, pissed off Pirate Lords, the cursed ghost of the Butcher of the Sea, hormonal women, an army, his father meeting one of his lovers, his Grandmama chasing him around Shipwreck Cove, hurricanes, storms, tsunamis off the coast of Japan, cursed treasures, a goddess' rage being fired upon the enemy which he was attacking, scorned lovers and who knows what else, yet never before had a pair of burning green eyes made him flinch like they did every time they looked at him now from across the bar, a snarl on the owner of said eyes' face.

He'd had many lovers who he had stringed along for as long as he liked, whom he had become fond of himself, whom he had taken care of before he left so they don't become the scorned sort. He'd slept with younger and older lovers, men and women, often times with both. He'd had threesomes and who knows what other combinations that the church and the law would condemn him for. He'd left so many high and dry and he'd never committed himself to any relationship beyond a night or two of pleasure and an occasional drink or slap when they meet up again, depending on the lover.

Never before had he introduced his family to a 'friend' before. Not his whole family. Not his Grandmama, who he knew despite her rough exterior and demeanor, to be as overprotective of him as his overly overprotective father was. Never had he ever felt so fond of someone that he actually worried about their reaction to his family - all violent, drunken pirates who had no qualms about killing whoever it is that had earned their ire, no matter why or how. He had never worried how his Uncle Jack might tell them overly embarrassing stories, or how his Da might spend the whole time glaring daggers or how his Aunt McFlaming might throw a rum bottle at their head or just how much he will pale in comparison as a pirate to his cousin Valerie.

He had never wondered if his drunkenness will ever get on the nerve of someone, since he was so used about not caring about anyone's opinion of him for the last decade or so. He had never thought he'd have a lover who would keep him from straying to others just by them being who they were, no matter how many others threw themselves at him. He had never thought he'd turn down a bottle because it was - according to this certain lover of his - one too many for his health. He had never thought he'd find someone to talk to him about his stay in the Locker when the memories returned in nightmares and he was no longer sure if he had dreamed up the past two years of his life or not.

He had never thought that h'd let himself appear vulnerable in front of another before.

And yet it had all happened, and just within a year since the first night he spent with his lover. He had somehow found someone who would want to keep holding on to him no matter what stupid death-defying stunt he pulled or how much he drank. He had not been able to believe it had happened until one of his older crewmen had commented how happy they were for him for finding a companion.

It had spread an incredible warmth from his chest throughout the rest of his body. Unfortunately, it had concentrated into a very lovely red on his face and not even his tan could hide the blush, especially not when his partner showed up and asked about it. Thankfully, all that blood from his face had migrated swiftly downwards and he had quickly engaged his lover in more ... pleasurable and intimate activities in the privacy of his cabin. Being Captain at times really had its wonders.

It had actually been two blissfully happy years since the last true problem, battle or enemy that he had to deal with. There had been plenty of plunder, a few uninformed bloody idiotic upstarts dared attack his ship and he and his crew gladly put them in their place and showed them the error of their ways and he had all his dear friends close by. Well, almost all of them, but he couldn't actually expect the goddess of the sea to stick around for longer than a few days visit. Especially with her having to visit her own cursed husband. Anyway, everyone was actually rather content these two years. The crews got used to each other: the crew he had picked up at Tortuga to go after his beloved ship, the crew he had once long ago sailed with, three Navy men, two civilians and the crew that had joined them after the last war. Everything was going so perfectly well...

Until just two days ago. That's when it all went to hell.

It had been a normal day, counting the haul from a recent raid, their resident females discussing the value of some satin they had found on a merchant ship when they were alerted to the presence of a ship by a sharp, crisp and loud "SAIL, HO!" They had prepared to engage the ship before her colors could be seen but it had been a Navy ship and they were hurling at them at breakneck speed. Deciding not to waste time running away from them, he had ordered for the ship to be turned around and they met the Navy's charge with their own. There was cannon and gun fire, cutlasses and knives on both sides and some fist fights. The arrows that sailed down on the red and blue uniformed marines decided the battle and he had been so proud to have kept an archer on board. He himself wasn't half bad at it but the lad in the crows-nest was a born talent, a son from a native tribe that someone from Europe had gone and conquered, destroyed and enslaved. The battle was over before the half hour mark was up and that's when it all went to shit.

One of the people that had been killed in the skirmish had ended up being an old friend of his lover's. Practically a brother. Fought and trained together in the Navy. Swore their vows together. Spent some years together before they became Lieutenants on different ships. Kept in touch until his lover sailed after him four years ago to chase him.

And the one to cut him down was _him_. His lover had found him just as he stabbed the lunging officer and had barreled into him hard enough for him to fall and hit his head on the deck. Hard. Hard enough that it needed stitches and it was only a miracle that his old first mate had been the son of a surgeon and still remembered how to wield a needle and thread. The officer had died in his lover's arms and he must have said something that had made the other scream at him for an hour.

The entire two days it took them to get to Tortuga, they'd been fighting. Usually something near screaming matches and none too pretty. The profanities that were thrown around like rice at a wedding would have had the only lady on board blushing had she not gotten used to the pirate dictionary over the two years. The crew kept well away from them most of the time, except a few from his first crew who dared not leave their Captain with a raging ex-pirate hunter. His two fellow ex-officers had tried to calm his lover down but the fights continued to get louder and more violent until it culminated this morning.

 _"He charged at me! Wot was I supposed t' bloody do?! Let him kill me?!"_

 _"It would have been a far more bearable loss, you filthy pirate! A good man died that day! Because of_ you _and your willingness to sacrifice everything and every_ one _surrounding you for your own selfish reasons!"_

He remembered flinching as though he had been hit with the cat right over a fresh wound and then had salt rubbed into it. Or poison. For he had turned cold in a matter of seconds. Those words had hurt far worse than if he had truly been hit with a cat and had poison poured over it. The next ones had been damning.

 _"I should have never saved you from the gallows. I should have put the noose on you myself. You're nothing but a sorry excuse for a human being that only cares about yourself and your bloody ship. You_ ruined _my_ life _! I wish I never met you!"_

He took a desperate gulp of his drink to make the pain and the memories go away. Words had never hurt him before. Or rather, they had never hurt so much that he'd show it. But shown it he had, if his young friends' nervous calls of his name were anything to go by. But the one that _should_ have notices _didn't_. He had been glared at as though he were the devil spawn or, worse, the devil himself right up to the moment when he put on the same facade he had worn for about a month two years ago, whirled around nonchalantly and casually walked back into his cabin until they made port. And so now, he was lonesomely wallowing in his own self pity while no one dared to disturb his melancholy . Mr Gibbs and Marcus had brought him a few bottles of rum and Elizabeth had brought him something to ear - she was becoming a worse mother-hen than Hugo had ever been. Will and Bill had sat with him for an hour before he chased them away jokingly, insisting his young friend go chase away all those men lecherously leering at his wife and told Bill he shouldn't wallow in misery with him when he had no reason to. Both Williams very reluctantly left his side and poor Theodor tried to apologize for his friends words but he had waved him off.

Truth was, he was perfectly aware that James was absolutely perfectly fucking right. He _had_ destroyed his lover's life. James Norrington had never hated anything more than pirates - except maybe Beckett and what he had done to the Navy - and by associating with him, saving his neck from the gallows when Beckett had finally decided to end him because he'd learned a vital weakness in his strategy, James had become a pirate himself.

 _'He must have been hiding his disgust all this time. Two years!'_ He thought moodily, gulping down a big swallow of rum. He enjoyed the burn down his throat and the relatively pleasant if temporary warmth the drink provided him with. It still managed to chase away the lingering cold of James' words. _'Goodness gracious, how hadn't he murdered me in my sleep? Have to marvel at that self control.'_ A self control he had more than once teased and tested, but in a far more pleasurable manner. Why had James stayed if he'd hated it so much. _'Probably feared what Da'd do to him. For breaking the Code.'_ Denial was his best friend when he was drunk. It's half the reason he does his best to never be less than tipsy. Especially when he was younger and couldn't return to the Cove yet his father would randomly pop up in his life to save or help him. Strange relationship, they've had all these years. He'd done many stupid things yet his Da never turned him away.

He had foolishly thought he'd found a partner that could do the same. But it wasn't James' fault. Nah, his Jamie was great. He didn't deserve him and that had pretty much been obvious since day one. James had only willfully been blind to it until two days ago when he'd killed his friend.

Jack Sparrow never bothered to point out to Norrington that the ex-Commodore had executed more of his friends than Jack had people in general. It would have only made it worse. And Jack Sparrow, legendary Captain of the Black Pearl, was no fool despite what many would gleefully say. He knew when the moment was _right_ \- not opportune, but _right_ \- for such things to be said and when James was mourning was not it. So he had kept his tongue to his teeth and he had not uttered the words that might have earned himself a stab in the gut, too.

Still, maybe that would have been far more preferable than watching James from across the pub, the ex-Commodore (Admiral, too, but he'd always stay Jack's Commodore) glaring at him as though he would rather have knives to throw at Jack. It would have been a relatively quick end. The suffering from that death would have been far less painful than watching two years of bliss falling apart right in front of his eyes. The rum wasn't even numbing the pain anymore, how bad it was.

It only hurt even more that James was so busy glaring death at him to bother removing the wench from his lap. A pretty girl, she was. Young, half Jack's age if he wasn't mistaken. Pretty, _really_ pretty, too. The dresses all Tortuga whores wore seemed to make her look like a queen. Or it might just be where she was sitting. Jack knows he truly feels like the king of the world when he'd wriggle onto James' lap, much to the taller man's exasperated fondness and everyone's amusement.

 _'The second of the only two Pirate Kings and I'm losing the person I might lo-_ like _very much to a whore. There's something for sea shanties!'_ He thought, disgusted with himself. Thank god for rum, because it allowed his friend Denial to rear its head again and stop him even from thinking that accursed _L_ -word. That was dangerous. Especially with James' current mood. He might stay behind in Tortuga this time. He downed the rest of the bottle at the thought and how utterly miserable he felt because of it.

A shudder in his senses distracted him when he reached for a second bottle, freezing mid motion. Something like a warm chill traveled through his body, no matter how absurd or impossible or contradictory that may sound. Something on the right side of temple felt like it was sending tingling signals to his brain and to his very soul. His heartbeat had increased and his hands itched for his weapons. He tore away his gaze from his lover and with his free hand that wasn't holding his precious Compass - he ignored how its needle swayed from the direction of the harbor (his Pearl) to those burning green eyes that reminded him of finely cut emeralds - reached deep into one of his numerous, seemingly endless pockets of his coat, pulling out what to many would have looked like an ordinary, rough metal coin.

Unerringly, he lifted the coin to his ear, his eyes hardening and his mouth tightening into a thin line when he heard it, unmistakable even with all the rowdy bar fights going on, the cursing of sailors, laughing of drunkards and moaning and giggling of whores.

The hum.

The piece of eight was _humming_.

 _'The song has been sang.'_

"Capt'n." Black eyes looked up when he heard Gibbs approach and call out to him, someone following behind like a shadow.

"What is it, Mr Gibbs?"

Joshamee looked fairly uneasy at the return of Jack's true persona that he hid from the world, the Teague blood that was running through his veins but he masked with his cheerful, optimistic and falsely foolish act and personality. The only time he had seen this side of Jack was two years ago, when he'd been voted for Pirate King. He oozed power and regality, as though he were of true royal blood and not just of pirate royalty. If he were acting like this, then something more than his little lovers' spat was amiss. The old sailor was already recalculating in his head how quickly he can prepare the Black Pearl for sailing off at the fastest convenience.

"This fair lady says she wants t' speak with ya. Says it's important." He fidgeted a little at the arched eyebrow that almost disappeared under the red bandanna. "She insisted, Jack. Said it'd interest ya as th' Pirate King."

Jack's mouth thinned into that tight line again. He nodded his head and Gibbs turned to tell the woman Jack would speak with her, only for her to sidestep him and perch herself right in his startled Captain's lap. A sense of calmness that only the sea rocking a black deck under his feet could bring him washed over Sparrow and startled back eyes met familiar dark brown ones as a knowing, fond and slightly predatory grin broke out on the female's face as she made herself comfortable.

It clicked faster than it would to anyone else for he _knew her_.

"Jack Sparrow," she said in an exotic accent and a bit rough voice.

Jack smiled.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

James Norrington, once Commodore and Admiral of His Majesty's Navy and the East India Trading Company, a pirate hunter the likes of which only El Matador Del Mar could top, has never been a fan of guilt. Then again, no man born up to date has been overly fond of the feeling but James absolutely hated it.

Especially when he very much deserved to feel guilty yet was angry at the same time.

Like now.

Jack Sparrow was a lot of things, James very well knew, but the things he had called him just this morning and in the past two days, he was not. No matter how much he tried to hide it, Jack was a very good man, one of the best Norringotn had had the pleasure to meet and get to know, but he so liked to mask it under his stupid mask of nonchalance, faked stupidity and foolishness and an indifference that was as false as his claim to Beckett that the Wicked Wench had been 'just a ship' to him. He put on an act to fool the world, manipulate all those he found unworthy of even a glimpse of his true self, living his life like it was a play and he was its writer, director and lead actor.

And, worst of all, people bought it. That had more than once ticked James off so much that had had indulged in a little more rum than was his norm and had spent two hours drunkenly waxing poetics about his lover and how stupid people were for thinking Jack stupid to a groaning Andrew and an all too agreeing and half dead drunk Theodor. Annamaria - how she got first involved with Gillete was still a story the lovebirds win't tell and Groves' has been warned not to say on pain of dealing with Annamaria's fist - who often sat with them when James drank - she was part of the betting pool that James will snap when drunk and take Jack somewhere public, since they've been accused of 'going at it like horny bunnies' - had only shaken her head at their antics and gave what she owed to Elizabeth - who always insisted James was a romantic drunk. James wasn't sure just what the bets were but the pool had a high rise and with their recent successes with hauls, you can bet there was plenty of gold and jewels at stake.

But that was not the point. The point was that Jack could put up a very impressive mask and rare few could see through it, so they don't know how he was truly feeling or what he was thinking. It could lead to people misunderstanding his intentions, as was usually the case. To those who understood his act, Jack was actually very straightforward. He just played with words, phrasings and meanings, twisting it around so it can mean a hundred different things. Like a true businessman or a politician. James had only started truly seeing beneath that mask after meeting the real Jack Sparrow on those wrecked ships in Shipwreck Cove. It had taken him months to decipher the mask and see beneath it.

So despite what Jack currently thought, James _had_ seen the moment he had gone too far, said the damningly wrong thing and had truly hurt the pirate that morning. He had seen that momentary lapse in his act and the pained expression he had made before it disappeared off of his face when Elizabeth and Will called his name. He had seen the same mask that had been there after the Locker and the near hanging by Beckett slip into place so firmly that he had been having one hell of a hard time to see anything of his emotions at all, but remembering that pained expression seized his heart with unbearable hurt.

Needless to say, he regretted every word of what he'd said in the past two days and he had been ready to actually beg for forgiveness right then and there, but Jack had made his face impassive and had turned around, walking away and avoiding him since. The guilt at his words was eating away at him for hours now, but his rage and his sadness had not yet left him.

Nevil Black had been a very close friends. Back in London, after that battle where Captain Teague had saved him from drowning, his mother and Nevil were the only ones who cared that he had almost died. His father's officers all agreed more that it was a tragedy that Lawrence now owed a pirate than it would have been had James actually died. His parents were still fairly young back then. They could have had another kid, never mind that his mother had barely fallen pregnant with James in the first place and that she had been trying to smother him with affection since he was born. Even his cousin, Flitzwilliam, who usually liked playing with him and teaching him to fight with a sword, had blamed him for letting Teague and what had actually turned out to be a young Jack escape. (Jack still avoided the topic, but it was obvious to James that he and his cousin had a history and James had thought he'd one day get the story. Now, he doubted he'd ever get the chance with how he'd mucked up.) Never mind that Flitzwilliam had been put under some strange spell and had rowed father and son back to their ship, the infamous Misty Lady, himself.

The only one who had showed him and his mother sympathy had been Nevil, a son of a rich Lord back in London. He was older than James ten years yet, unlike Flitzwilliam at times - they were blood; it shouldn't be such a bother to play with your six years younger cousin - he never tried to shoo James away when he wanted to play or talk or train with the sword. Nevil had taken a liking to James' sharp wit and the young Norrington had in turn taken a shine to his as well, looking up to the sixteen year old more than he ever had to Flitzwilliam. Nevil was his first friend and neither boy cared about the age gap or from which family they came from. When James turned eight, Nevil joined the Navy and that was the moment James decided he, would, too, the day Nevil badgered with his Captain to give James a tour of the harbor during a drill. James' big eyes had watched, enchanted, how Nevil worked and that, combined with his - according to his mother - unfortunate fascination with the sea, had born in him the determination to become a Captain of his own ship. Months later, as Nevil talked about the types of pirates he had hunted during his time at sea and the horror and chaos they brought in their wake, James decided he'd not just become a Captain, but an office of His Majesty's Royal Navy and he would cleanse the sea of pirates, like his father did. Because obviously his father had been right about piracy if even Nevil was disgusted by them.

So he had joined the Navy, climbed in ranks until he had become a Captain at twenty and he had a ship of his own. His mother had cried with happiness, his father had nodded to him at the ceremony, Flitzwilliam had not shown and Lieutenant Nevil Black had been grinning from ear to ear. He had bought James his very own first sword for his captaincy and had comforted his mother when James was assigned the Caribbean. By that time, he and his father had completely grown apart. Nevil was his only connection to his mother when she fell ill and he had bargained with the Admiralty to let James come back two years later when she died. His father had finally retired back then but he had criticized James for running back home to his mother instead of staying at his post and hunting the 'pirate scum'. James had had to hold Nevil back when Lawrence had called him a useless burden to the Navy and the Norrington name.

He had finally fallen out of contact with Nevil a little before he chased after Jack into that hurricane at Trinidad. After that, even during his one year stint as an Admiral, he had not had the time to write to him before he finally decided to go against Beckett and save Jack. He had been pretty sure Nevil would have been proud if exasperated with him for doing so. Nevil had always known he had high morales. And while Jack _was_ a pirate, he was also a good man and he had been sentenced to death not for his crimes but for knowing where Jones' heart was and had as such been a greater threat just by himself than the whole of the Brethren Court combined. Ever since he had hooked up with Jack, though, seeing him surrounded by people who had once looked out for him, his family and those who were as close to him as family, he had started thinking about Nevil again.

He had never thought that their reunion would be after Jack - who had become _important_ to him - had stabbed Nevil in the gut during a fight. James had been livid and desperate. Seeing his best friend - a man who could have well been his _brother_ \- bleeding on the deck had overwhelmed him and he knew he had used too much force to push Jack away. Looking at the gash on his head while it was being stitched had left him with piercing stabs of guilt when he realized he could have seriously hurt the man.

Yet the very next hour, when he, Groves and Gillete gave Nevil and his downed men a burial at sea worthy of an Admiral, after he had had a bit of rum - it was just a bit, right? Right? - the anger had returned and their fights had began. Looking back, it must have been hell for Jack to bear with all that yelling but he had kept up his careless act and that had only made James angrier. He had hated how Jack hid behind his mask and that not seeing it for so long had left James untrained to reading it, especially with his grief and pain and anger and he had only wanted to see if Jack regretted doing it. Had maybe wanted a bit of sympathy from his lover. But Jack had remained impassive and James had spent two days searching for reaction.

He had found it this morning but Jack was now acting as though nothing had happened. He had taken his crew to the Faithful Bride, bought them all drinks as well as a round for everyone in the pub, had found the rarely there musicians and ordered a few songs before finding himself a table and drinking himself stupid. James wasn't sure if it was anger or worry that had him so distracted and glaring at Jack. He shouldn't be drinking, especially not that much, with his head wound. The more he drank and ignored Gillete and Groves trying to convince him to just _talk_ to Sparrow, the angrier he became. He never became aware of when the wench had sat down in his lap until he saw that Jack had one in his own. Dark and beautiful like his Captain, she seemed to be caressing his face fondly with familiarity and Jack's genuinely delighted smile - no real smiles had stretched those full lips in two days and no smile at all had reached them since this morning, something no one at the Faithful Bride had noticed while they toasted to the generous pirate - seemed to confirm it that they were close. Even Mr Gibbs looked a bit baffled at their interactions despite being the one to have led the woman to the Pearl's Captain, before Sparrow shooed him away and he just shrugged, going back to his own drink.

James had watched for fifteen minutes, watching how that woman held his lover's attention unfailingly, caressing his face, his hair, his trinkets, his goatee, his mustache, before he had enough. He was about to stand up and storm over there, haul the wench off of Jack's lap and take his lover to the closest secluded place so he can get all the aggression out of him and maybe finally move on from this great fuck up, when the whore on his lap decided she was done being ignored.

Before he could react, she grabbed his crotch through his pants, gave him a tight squeeze and kissed him on the mouth when he gasped, sliding her tongue in. There was a roaring cheer in the background as the patrons of the Faithful Bride saluted the heated embrace and something in James' head - probably the rum, the two days of apstination because of the argument, maybe the argument itself or his grief at a lost friend - snapped and he pushed the girl right off his lap-

Onto the table right behind her, toppling over drink and food, splashing it all over the floor as he moved in between the wench's legs, kissing hungrily, hands traveling every inch of soft, warm flesh. It had been well over three years, maybe even longer, since he had bed a woman. There had been quite a few in Tortuga before he had joined the Black Pearl's crew and before that, he had been too busy being a gentleman, a Commodore and a pirate hunter to even think of indulging himself. Not to mention that he had been set on marrying Elizabeth and hadn't wanted to leave a bad impression on her and Governor Swann. And since two years ago, Jack had been more than enough. The thought of finding a whore at any one of their shore leaves had never even occurred to him. Why should it, when Jack was always more than willing and welcomed him with open arms without expecting anything in return? But he had no Jack to welcome him now. He had mucked up spectacularly, this morning even more so, and he had no arms to hold him.

Or rather, he didn't have the arms he wanted to hold him. The whore was more than happy to welcome a handsome sailor into her own, especially since she can later demand coin from him for her services. Norrington figured that will have to do.

He forgot about his company and his whereabouts. He ignored Groves telling him in a panicked voice to stop, that that seventh bottle of rum was that one called 'one too many'. He ignored Annamaria cursing him to hell before dragging a reluctant Gillete behind her, away from the quickly stripping pair. By the time he was entering the wench, Groves was dragged away by a sneering Marty and whatever was left of his conscious awareness was reduced to nothing, his mind fuzzy with drink and the pleasure of warmth wrapped around him. He didn't hear the roaring cheer or the wolf whistles, he didn't register the rum shoved into his hands as he began to move and the girl started moaning for all too hear at his too rough pace.

In his mind, it wasn't a pale flushed woman of dark blond hair and green eyes that lay beneath him, but rather a lithe, wiry tanned body with its hidden strength, black braided and dreadlocked hair and impossibly dark eyes looking up at him in throes of pleasure. The Jack in his mind was writhing deliciously, arching, moaning, twisting, panting, screaming, calling his name. Sure hands were caressing his face, his shoulders and chest but something didn't feel quite right, even James' frizzled brain could tell. The hands were smaller, not quite warm enough, too gentle and soft when he knew them to be rough from a sailor's life. The fingers lacked that mischievous spark to them, the animation always present, the rings. The chest pressed to him was also wrong. The legs gripping his hips were wrong, too. Long but not nearly strong enough. Pale.

The ex Admiral tried his best to gather his wits but an answering thrust had his head spiraling again. It took too long and far too much concentration to pull himself back to awareness of his surroundings and by the time he had managed it, he realized it was because he had reached his peek and the entire Faithful Bride was cheering for him, the whore grinning up at him with pleasure and a strange feeling of dread that cooled him faster than any dunking in the sea he had taken in his life. The whore sat up from her sprawled position on the table and drew the panting, disoriented sailor into a filthy kiss, earning more cheers. James pulled away with difficulty, his arms shaky from his climax, and looked over her shoulder at the table he had been staring at the whole night with mixed emotions.

The chill he had been feeling cleared up his head the second he registered the look on Jack's face. He tried to swiftly disentangle himself from the wench and rush over to Jack, ready to apologize for this, for this morning, for the past two days, for _everything_ , but with the same speed Jack drew his gun, he got up and all but ran out of the Faithful Bride, the woman that had been holding his attention staying behind to frown at James before disappearing as though blown away by the wind. Had he not been panicking to get to Jack as quickly as he can, he would have noted that that little disappearing act made it very obvious as to whom had been keeping Jack entertained and that he had become unjustly jealous and had made a bad situation even worse all by himself.

"Hey! Ya gotta pay m' firs', you blighter!" The whore yelled after him as he rushed towards the doors, only to be stopped by two burly pirates who serves something like bouncers for the Faithful Bride, put there to make sure the whores were paid and gambling debts kept to in order to avoid more than the usual amount of dead and fights.

"Get out of my way!" James growled at them like a caged animal and threw a punch that landed square on the bigger tug's nose, toppling him back. The smaller one repaid him his kindness by punching him in the gut and before he knew what was going on, the entire Faithful Bride was fighting around him and he was pulled into it. He was soon too busy fighting for his life, coin and clothing but only one thought kept him sober enough to even last this shitty situation he had ended up in.

He had to get to Jack before it was too late.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

"Jack Sparrow," the dark woman said with a small, secretive, fond, slightly predatory, knowing smile and Jack beamed up at her as she sat in his lap.

"Calypso, my lady," he greeted, taking her hand and placing a gentlemanly kiss on her knuckles, earning a fond giggle out of the playful sea goddess who has been his friend for the better part of his life. "What brings the goddess of the sea herself to see this lowly pirate scum?"

The woman once known as Tia Dalma smiled at her favorite pirate. "Good company an' drink." She watched him chuckle and wanted so much to join him - if only to distract him from the worrying pain in his heart that she could feel - but she had come for truly important matter for them to discuss. "An' ... a request."

Sparrow arched a fine black eyebrow at her hesitation, already guessing very easily what it was that she will ask. "I don't suppose this request might have anything to accidentally do with me being Pirate King and this request of yours being somehow connected to the Brethren Court?"

"De song 'as been sang, my Witty Jack." Calypso said ominously, her good cheer at seeing Jack disappearing as she recalled her beloved's suffering and the cries of the lost soul as they awaited their turn to be ferried across. She didn't know if she was cold with sorrow or burning with rage. Both were very much possible for a goddess. Gods were the only ones with such fickle emotions. "Dem took it too far. Da Brethren Court must react."

Jack's usually brightly cheerful eyes turned dark as he recalled his shudder in the moment the sea must have carried across the song to every piece of eight on the planet, especially the Nine Pieces of Eight once again held by the nine Pirate Lords, thanks to him. He had saved the items from being destroyed when Calypso was released. They were all mighty charred now and no longer held the magical properties to free her, but if someone were foolish enough to try and imprison her again, the same nine random items were the keys to her cage, either way. The Brethren Court was needed and as such, the Nine Pieces of Eight were, too. As long as the song existed, as long as there was a potential danger to the pirate way of life, more and more new Pirate Lords will replace every old one when they fell for as long as the Court was needed. As this very situation showed, the world of pirates was not yet ready to exist without them. Not as long as they were all still being hunted every single day.

Whenever the sea shuddered from the cries of her favorite children, the only ones who still worshiped her for all that she was and not just a means to an end - like trades, business, transport, war as opposed to sea representing freedom and refuge from the noose - the nine Pirate Lords could feel it. Or at least Jack knew he could. He always could. His father and grandmother had found it strange the few times he had become jumpy in his youth due to the song being sang in one place or another. Because even if not enough pirates sang the song for the full Brethren Court to be needed, a few Pirate Lords closest to the place it had been sang will be called upon, needed to deal with whatever had disturbed those who sail in their domain. Jack suspected him being born in a storm, the sea being his first cradle and nursery, had something to do with it, especially when he came from the family of two other Pirate Lords.

And one Pirate King. Yes, Jack Sparrow was actually the great grandson of the first Pirate King. He had only found out the last time he had been at Shipwreck Cove and his Grandmama insisted on the two of them and his Da having a long, private talk. Not even his Da had known that _his_ Da was the son of the first Pirate King, the man having died before Edward Teague was born. Having been married to him for a year, Grandmama had taken the name Teague as her own and had been known as Mistress Teague, feared and dauntless Captain and youngest Pirate Lord, Pirate lord of the Atlantic. She got her new nickname under which everyone shook in fear when Jack was born and she declared herself his Grandmama, Mistress Teague being a title adjusted and given to Mrs Teague, Jack's Mum. It had been a shock to both son and father to hear that they were true definitions of _pirate royalty_. It only made more sense just how deep their pirate blood ran and why they were such great pirates. Legends, the both of them. Keeper (and Lord of Madagascar) and King (and Lord of the Caribbean), son and grandson of a Pirate Lord, grandson and great grandson of the only Pirate King before Jack.

The point was, Jack had always been attuned to the sea like no other and he had many a guess as to why, raging from the pirate blood in his veins, his mother's blood (let's not even go there right now), his almost life long friendship with Tia Dalma (Calypso), any number of adventures he took part in that could have altered some of his humanity and there was those few little pacts he'd made with sea myths and legends that are better not yet mentioned, but that didn't matter right now. The song has been sang and Jack knew he had a responsibility to call upon the Court. He suspected they already knew. Either from their own Pieces of Eight or from some of their pirates telling them their own had hummed.

"And we will." He assured his companion with a firm nod, meeting her eyes to show her how serious he was. "Whoever is doing whatever it is that has caused them to sing the song, we will deal with them. You have my word." And because he had gotten so used to people doubting his oaths, he added even more seriously. "I swear on my Pearl."

Calypso could not have received a greater vow and she relaxed. She truly appreciated how far Jack would go to preserve his freedom, her's and anyone else's. He had even managed to befriend her Davy, a story she heard from her beloved after Jack saved three sailors near drowning while Jones was picking up the ones who either wanted to serve a few years on the Dutchman, not yet ready to die, or were already lost to the depths and needed ferrying to the other side. Davy had told her he had appreciated not having to leave the men to die only to come back for them later or to end their suffering right there and just ferry them across, as well as Jack's humor that had chased away the sorrowful wailing of the dead and the uncertainties of his new crew members. Apparently, serving for a few more years was bearable if only they got to occasionally cross paths with her eccentric pirate friend. They had had a few more run ins these past two years but Davy had been relieved when he hadn't met Jack since this new horror story had started. He knew Sparrow would come to fear him again if he were to see him in his current state. The Locker had left deep scars on Jack and they knew he didn't trust easy, so they made sure that everything that even suggested the Locker was never brought up in conversation. Jack's trust was precious and as rare as the black pearl he had wowed in his hair. They didn't want to lose it.

"Thankee, my Jack. It eases me heart t' know ye'll d' da best ya can." And he will. Despite common belief, Jack Edward Teague 'Sparrow' never left anything half done.

Jack nodded, focusing on something else than how honest gratitude always made him feel uncomfortable. "D' you know wot's happenin'?" He took another sip and offered the bottle to Calypso, who gladly accepted it with a shake of her head as an answer. "Bugger. That would've been useful."

"I only know dat de souls of de dead are demandin' retribution." She returned the bottle, voice grave. "Vengeance." She raised a hand to caress his cheek. Jack felt himself relax like he had been unable to for two days under her fond, worried ministrations. Her eyes looked a bit regretful when she continued her account on the awful events currently taking place. "Dey call fer deir Pirate King and him Court. Dey couldn't've found rest 'ad de song not echoed da seas."

"Want of vengeance will do that to ya." He replied, recalling a once great man reduced to the ghost of his old self, consumed by rage and lust for pirate blood, for revenge. Recalled how only officially mutual acknowledgement of two great men, two enemies as worthy opponents after almost two decades had finally sent the other into the other world to enjoy his afterlife. Remembered how a monster had turned back into a man right before his eyes, _twice_ , and all in one day, too. Revenge only weighted a heart, a soul, and stopped it from finding peace. He remembered how he, too, had desired revenge against his traitorous first mate. He had never felt lighter than when he had finished it and yet there had been conflicting feelings there, too, as he was usually not one to believe in revenge.

Finishing off Beckett, though, had truly only been a delight. The man had followed no Code, no Law nor Rule but his own while pretending that he was. Jack hated blighters like him the most. Brought a bad name to them all. Masked his crimes with stories of righteousness and called the other side evil. Yes, there _were_ some really nasty pirates out there, but not everyone was like that. Just like no Navy man was like his Jamie.

Thinking about his lover had him looking up and Jack felt his world suddenly go askew. He couldn't believe his eyes. Surely he was seeing things wrong. There was no way that what was happening before him was real.

''Jack?'' Calypso asked worriedly, trying to shake him, to make him turn his eyes to her, worried it was one of his rare but still happening visions of the Locker again since he wasn't responding. It was known to happen from time to time but she had thought that James was usually there to help him get through one such spell. ''Sparrow?'' She tried again, even tapping his cheek, but his eyes were only growing more distant and color was draining form his face.

Then the sense of betrayal and helplessness oozing out of him reached her supernatural senses and she frowned, her anger stoked anew but now at whatever could bring such emotions out in her Jack. She whirled around with all the anger of the sea and froze when she saw what was upsetting her friend so. Of all the things she had expected to see, it had _not_ been James Norrington, entrusted by more than one person with Jack Sparrow, fucking a Tortuga whore right there in front of everyone, in front of _Jack_. Her rage only grew when she saw that he wasn't breaking his lust and drink hazed gaze away from her favorite Pirate Lord, as though taunting him. She didn't know why Jack and his little lover were now sitting at separate tables when it at times took the power of nature to unglue James from Jack's side in taverns, but she didn't care.

This betrayal felt as personal as though it had happened to her. For years, Jack Sparrow had been her only frequent companion, visiting her a few times each year, not letting the loneliness of her shack get to her. Usually with ridiculous tales she would have loved to see for herself, like she could now when she was free. She had watched this pirate grown up from a little lad to the man he was now and she felt almost like a mother to him, just like he at times saw her. And like any indignant mother, she was enraged by what she was seeing.

She stood up to go over there and rip Norrington a new one when a strangled sound escaped her companion. She whirled around to look at him, only to see his eyes shinning with more than just emotions, but the most expressive form of them as well, tiny pearl like tears glittering on his eyeballs. ''Jack?'' She asked carefully, gently, reaching out for him, but his words cut her off.

''I'll make sure this stops. You have my word.'' He didn't sound as confident as he usually did but the promise was sure and his voice was impressively steady. She wanted to shake him and tell him it was okay to show emotion, at least in front of her because she would never let the sea hurt him. She wanted to disembowel Norringotn and that wench.

But Norrignton's eyes coming into focus had Jack running out of the tavern before she could say anything. No longer protected by her favorite pirate, Calypso would have lain in on James in that very second had not she sensed his horror at what he had just done and the desperation with which his soul called out to Jack's retreating form. She frowned at him before disappearing to search for the eccentric Captain in the once place where she knew he will find comfort.

And find him on his Black Pearl she did, letting her rocking motions calm his racing heart, his aching soul and his spinning mind. He looked nothing like the legendary Captain Jack Sparrow as he clung to the railing of his ship with desperation, kneeling on her deck and assuring himself at least he still had her. And for all that Jack viewed the sea as his mother, his cradle, he wanted a lover's 'touch' right now, so she just watched over him for the night. In the distance, she could still feel Norrington's distress, but it could not match the distress her Jack was feeling and she mourned another piece of his trust and belief in the world and man being destroyed.

She had been away too long, it would seem, since she had no idea what had happened. Going to the other side isolated even her from the world of the living. However, even though the ship was currently empty save for the silently shaking man babbling to his ship's rail as though into a comforting ear, whom there was no way she was going to question, there was still someone _she_ could ask. So she placed a hand on the helm and listened to the shudders, groans and swaying of the ship as the Black Pearl told her what happened. No one else can 'speak' with ships, but ships were like people and all manner of sea creatures to her and she could 'hear' what they had to say. And the Black Pearl, for all that she didn't have a real 'consciousness' was not a happy lady. Calypso, as fond of Jack as she was, was no happier than the Pearl.

But she now understood some things and she sighed tiredly. Of all the times for James and Jack to get into a sniff, it had to be when the sea and her 'children' needed the Pirate King the most. Oh, Jack will deliver, no doubt. He'll fight like he always does. But he'll be more reckless and there was a good possibility he might even fall to his family's ruthlessness when faced with an enemy. Calypso had always liked him because he wasn't cruel and could show mercy where any other pirate would have killed and tortured for as long as they could. She'd rather keep her Witty Jack the way he was.

She stayed with him until the first rays of light hit the horizon and his crew began making their way back to the Pearl. By this time, the simple rocking of his beloved Black Pearl beneath his feet was enough to calm him and she had watched as he carefully reconstructed his mask back into place. It was as though he had once more returned from the Locker and rage rekindled anew in the sea goddess but she refrained from showing it. It would only draw Jack's attention and he will worry for her instead of about himself.

She stayed and watched as he ordered his returning crew to get everyone else because they'll be leaving with the morning tide, stood by him as he watched their cargo being fulled with the provisions they'll need for their voyage to Shipwreck Cove. She watched as he called out orders while gripping the helm with a desperation that the rest of his body hid well. And she waited with him, for hours.

Finally, just before he was supposed to call out to set sail, he turned to her, as if to stall a little more. He knew he was needed elsewhere. He knew the Pirate Lords will respond faster this time around after the mess last time. And he probably wanted to beat the rumors there so he can save James his grim fate should the Keeper learn of what had happened last night. Always thinking of others, even though he did his best not to show it.

"Wot will ye be doin' now?"

"I 'ave ta return t' my Davy's side." She replied slowly, granting him those few more minutes to wait for James before he had to follow the Code and sail away without him. Even the other two ex officers were there, having chosen not to leave Jack alone. James would go crazy with worry if someone didn't look after the man when he got up to one of his insane schemes. "Too many souls, Witty Jack. I need t' be there ta keep 'im company and stall de curse."

Jack made a sympathetic face as he placed a hand on her shoulder in camaraderie. "My regards fer 'im, aye?"

"Aye," she smiled, reaching up to grip his hand before caressing his face one last time in comfort. For the both of them. "Ya be careful, now."

"You too, luv." He stepped away and watched Calypso jump into the sea, turning to salt water long before she hit the surface. The crewmen all crossed themselves and did something that looked like an anti-jinx dance, with Gibbs in the lead and Jack rolled his eyes at them all. Seriously, even after four years and impossible adventures with him, they still acted like fools where superstitions were concerned. Some thing will never change. "Alright, you slimy sea dogs! Lift the anchor! Tie the lines! Unroll the sails! Set course for Shipwreck Cove! We leave in a quarter of an hour!"

"Captain," Jack turned towards Bill expectantly, a bit surprised he had called to him. "What of James?" His old friend asked and Jack did his best not to show pain or any other emotion on his face. "We can't just leave him here?"

"He's survived Tortuga before," someone muttered under their breath bitterly and Jack tried to pinpoint who.

"Arrgh! Wind in the sails! Wind in the sails!" Cotton's parrot screeched and the Captain winced ever so slightly.

"I'm sure he can take care of himself," he replied vaguely, yet it was obvious to all that he himself wasn't ready to leave the man behind, no matter what he had done. "Although he doesn't know where we're going."

"He has the same piece of eight all of us do. I am sure he will head to the Cove as soon as he hears the song has been sang." Gillete offered, having made his own way to Shipwreck Island from Tortuga, so he knew it was possible. And he had even boarded the very last ship out of town, while this has only started. And there was no fear of Jones or Salazar this time around, so the Crossing won't be closed.

"So you all know why we're going?" The Pearl's Captain asked more to confirm it than as a real question. At the nods he received, he nodded back. To be expected. As Andrew had pointed out, all pirates had that special piece of eight to hear its humming once the song has been sang. "Good. Then you all know how grave the situation is. And you know we can't waste anymore time. We need to make way for the Cove before Tortuga is targeted." He rolled his eyes in long suffering exasperation. "Again."

"We still can't just leave the lad behind!" Bill insisted, feeling sorry for the ex Commodore. He, unlike most here who were very angry with with Norrington - don't get him wrong, he was, too, but he also sort of pitied the man - had seen James struggling to get to their Captain before that fight had broken out in the Faithful Bride. Had seen how hard and long he struggled to get away from the fighting mob and reach Jack. He obviously had not wanted to hurt him. Bill was possibly the only one who had seen more than their fights these past couple of days, had seen James struggling with himself to forgive the death of his friend and reconcile with Jack, but grief and rage won out and they continued fighting. The older Turner had realized that James was trying to get a reaction out of Jack, but he knew Sparrow wouldn't allow himself to react visibly after all the betrayals he'd seen in his life. He couldn't afford to appear vulnerable.

"What do you suggest?" Jack asked with an arched eyebrow, hoping Bill will give him a solution he had not thought of yet himself. He watched Bill hesitate before determination dawned in his eyes.

"Captain, I'd like to stay behind."

"What? No!" Will protested immediately, rushing towards his father's side. He took hold of his father's shoulders and all but shook him right there in front of Jack, just a few paces away from the Captain. ''I lost you once before. I will not risk this new threat taking you away from me again.''

''I've once left someone behind and that's how this whole mess started.'' Bill told his son seriously, his eyes only fleetingly settling on the younger Turner before going back to the Pirate King. ''I won't do it again.''

''You had nothing to do with Barbossa's treachery or what Beckett has been doing.'' Will insisted and Jack nodded in the background in agreement. ''You owe it to no one to stay behind.''

''I owe it to Norrington.'' The father told his son seriously. ''I'm not going to die Will.''

''How!? Why?! Why do you owe it to him?'' Elizabeth had come up to her husband to try and placate him while throwing worried looks to her father in law. Without Weatherby Swann around anymore, Bill Turner was the only father she had. She would hate to lose him for more than one reason. ''Why must it be you?''

''Because he saved an old friend.'' Bill told Will calmly. ''Because he saved and protected that friend and as such made it possible for the war to be over in a day. Because saving that friend had allowed me to be freed. And because he had protected you, saved you, the both of you, in the years I could not.'' The older of the two Williams smiled at his fretting son and left his reach by stepping back a few steps. ''It's my choice, William. You can't take that from me. Not without being cruel.''

Will turned pleasing eyes up to Jack, begging him as the Captain to not allow this to take place. Sparrow just met his old friend's eyes and sighed. ''No use trying to make you change your mind, eh?''

''None whatsoever.'' Bill grinned up at his friend and Jack sighed again, massaging his forehead. He could just feel the beginnings of a headache coming on.

''Fine. Jus' don't get killed.'' He ignored the muttering of the crew or Will's outraged cry at not being supported in this, fishing out a pouch with enough coins to last Bill and James quite a few days and a voyage to the Cove.

''We'll come in five days.'' Bill promised and Jack glared threateningly at him.

''You better.''

The man just nodded, pocketing the pouch. ''Captain.'' He nodded at his son and daughter in law, waved to the crew and walked off of the ship, the rest staring off after him until he was no longer in their line of sight. They then turned towards Jack expectantly and the pirate rolled his eyes at them.

''Wot are ya waitin' for? A written invitation? Get t' work, you lazy blackguards!''

''I sure do hope he knows what he's doing.'' Will muttered to Elizabeth as he went to help with the sails.

Jack wholeheartedly agreed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

''So,'' James Norrington woke to the sound of a familiar voice saying from somewhere above him, but his head hurt too much for him to determine who it was that was speaking. Actually, he could barely crack his eyes open without his head spinning and nausea making his gut squirm. ''You mucked up pretty badly, mate. You're actually very much lucky to be alive. Although how long that might last is up for a worthy betting pool wager.''

''Ugh, what's that horrendous stench?'' He asked of the voice, mercifully not as loud as some people tend to be when dealing with a hungover man. He felt like retching enough as it were. He really didn't need any additional pounding to his head to make the nausea even worse and force everything that he still had in his stomach out.

''Don't you remember it? The pigsty. I'm told you've been here before. Right here. No wonder the piggies are so friendly with you.'' As if to make the stranger's point, a pig's snout nudged at Norringotn's face and he finally forced himself to move, if only to push the smelly animal away. Although if what his companion said was the truth, then he probably smelled just as bad as future Mr Beacon. ''She really likes you, that one. Better be careful to make an honest woman out of her.'' Make that Miss Beacon, James thought with difficult sarcasm as his eyes finally opened and focused on the man standing over his head. He blinked at the pirate, disoriented. ''Ah, good. You're awake. I was starting to worry someone hit that hard head of ours too hard. You're not as blessed as Jack is with his luck and extremely hard head, even if you seem to be nearly as thickheaded. An awful shame it would be, had your brains been scrambled before you get your chance to beg at Jack's feet on your knees for what you pulled last night.''

It took all of twenty seconds for what one Bill Turner said to register in the ex Admiral's brain, for him to recall the events of said last night and the implications of how much he had fucked up to hit him. And hit him hard it did, for he just barely rolled over and vomited what little was left of the drink and food from some hours ago without getting it all over his already soiled clothing. He felt sick with guilt and shame and sorrow as he realized he had done one of the few things he had always been merciless towards others when they committed the same act and recalling Jack's face when he finally got his bearings back together had him vomiting the acid from his stomach, scaring away Miss Beacon.

Mercifully as was the quiet voice, there were cool hands holding back his hair - he had let it grow once again since he had permanently joined the Black Pearl's crew, much to Jack's delight - and touching his burning forehead to help him clam down a little while he retched. He heard the older man sigh as he massaged the back of James' throat, stopping to dry-heaving that ensued once his stomach was completely empty.

''Good. The amount of drink and opium you had consumed last night would have killed a horse, let alone you.'' The older Turner continued to massage his shoulder blades and neck as he spoke, calming the once Navy officer's breathing and frantically beating heart as he spoke. ''I thought they taught you never to kiss a whore. They paint their lips with opium so that if they don't manage to seduce a customer, they drug him. They know better than to lick their lips, but men don't. Most wenches here know not to use such methods on a Pirate Lord's crew member, especially one who hails from the ship of the Pirate King, but that lass was new. Doesn't know the rules yet. Poor lass. Didn't survive the night.''

''What?'' The startled James asked when he finally regained some of his composure. Dead whores were nothing new in Port Royal, but they were much better treated in Tortuga than anywhere else. He was surprised to hear of her death. She was young and trying to earn herself a living, even though he _did_ hold a grudge against her for choosing _him_ at the _worst_ possible time of his life to mooch money off of.

''Aye, dead. Tried to rob a half dead man during the brawl. He thought it was another pirate and stabbed her in the gut. Poor girl died a slow, painful death. Couldn't save her, they said. The local doctor tried, but it was already too late for her by the time they got her to him.'' Bill was now holding out a pouch of fresh water in front of the good ex Commodore's face. ''Drink. It will at least get ride of the bile from your mouth. And it might sober you up a little.''

''My thanks.'' The raised gentleman said as he took deep gulps of blessedly cold water. Yes, this morning everything was blessed and merciful. Now if only Lady Luck would be, too, and he could just get to Jack before he was out of his reach ...

''The Black Pearl sailed away with the morning tide, four hours ago.'' Bill said, as though hearing Norringotn's thoughts and said man rolled his eyes.

 _'So much for Lady Luck's mercy. Although she does favor Jack.'_ He shook his head at his own silly thoughts and focused back on what Turner was saying.

''They're heading for Shipwreck Cove. We have five days to get there by ourselves and we'll have to get a ship by the end of today so we can sail away with the evening tide if we want to meet that deadline.''

''Right. We should get going, then.'' James climbed to his unsteady feet and made to leave the barn, only for a hand to appear right in front of his face, stopping him in his tracks.

''Not so fast, mate.'' William Turner Senior said in a deadly serious voice. ''First, you need a bath. But before we do wash you off and get you some new, clean clothing, you have some explaining to do. Like what the hell has crawled up your ass and died these past two days and when will you be getting it out?''

''Can we not get me clean so we can have this conversation in a more ... civilized establishment?'' His answer was a cocked and primed gun pointed to his head, a half an inch right in front of his nose. ''I guess not.''

''What you did was right cruel, Norringotn. Yes, you were drunk and under influence of opium - I could smell it even under the stench of vomit, rum and pigsty on you - but that does not excuse your actions. You hurt Jack right enough for him to look like a shadow of his old self. Elizabeth said he was like that when they fetched him from the Locker.'' He pulled back the safety on the gun and glared at the younger sailor. ''I used to look at Jack like a younger brother or even a son. Not interfering with the mutiny was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life, right there next to leaving Will and his mother. I hate seeing him so listless, no matter how good he hides it. You caused that. SO you're going to tell me just what the hell is wrong with you and why you have been taking all these shots at Jack the past couple of days before I even let you think about going anywhere near him again. It might just even end up saving your life, if word gets back to Captain Teague.''

''You know he's the Keeper's son?'' Norringotn had not thought so many people knew. He had thought only he, Gibbs and a few of Jack's first crewmen knew who his father was.

''Aye, I know. Always did. Just like he knew me as William Turner, I knew him as Jack Teague 'Sparrow'. Now answer me.'' So James did. He told him first a bit about his relationship with the now late Nevil Black, about how they were as close as brothers and how much it had hurt to see the man fall. About how rage and guilt and shame at broken oaths had started the arguments but then how sorrow had kept them going until he just wanted to get a reaction out of Jack before all the emotions culminated yesterday morning and he said the things he did, none of which he had even thought since he got to know Jack Sparrow. Bootstrap, bless him, listened patiently until James finished the story by telling him how he had just been about to get up and drag Jack away from the woman sitting in his lap - who turned out to be Calypso in disguise - when the wench in his own lap had drawn him into that kiss.

At least the fuzziness of his mind finally made sense. He had never really drank quite that much, yes, but he was also sure that he wouldn't have acted so despicably had he been in his right mind. He had no tolerance for opium and his current state and what he had done last night were more than testimony to that. Sometime during his tale, Miss Beacon as he called her now, had come up to rub herself against his calves like a house cat would and he was too tired to shoo her away, much to her delight.

When his tale was finally over, Bootstrap nodded, understanding the situation a bit better now. But there was still something bothering him. ''You said you kept hearing your friend's last words in your head over and over again. I'm guessing those words are the ones that actually made you lash out at Jack so much. Mind telling me what those words were that you felt you should drive our Captain closer to insanity than even the Locker had managed?''

James looked away, a pained look coming over his face as he recalled those words again. They had been haunting his every waking and sleeping moment since he had heard them. Bill was indeed right when he said those very same words made him seek out Jack to lash out at him, as the one responsible for the death and partially the words, too. '' _I'm disappointed to see you alive if this is who you've become, James Norrington. Yet my heart is bursting with joy to see you well. And for that joy, I hate you more than I can describe in words._ Those are the last words the man whom I've thought of as an older brother for the better part of my life had said to me. I blamed Jack for being such a good swordsman, for fighting so well, for not sparing that one life, that one ship, like he'd done so many times before. I blamed him for being so precise that the death was a quick one and I didn't get to explain. I blamed him for not having more time. That was all I needed, just a bit more time to set things straight, to tell him about Beckett and his crimes and how good a man Jack was. That I was happier than I've ever been before. But he died.''

''And so instead of praising our wonderful Captain, you've turned to insulting and cursing his very existence until you told him you'd rather have never met him or have had him die instead of this Nevil.'' The older man finished with a tired sigh, finally putting away his pistol and running a hand down his face. ''What a right mess.''

''I've never made a greater mistake in my life.'' Norrington confirmed, feeling useless and small and more defeated than he'd been the last time he had ended up in this very pigsty. He wanted nothing more than to find Jack and beg for forgiveness or just curl up in here and die, left to be forgotten by the world. Only Jack would never forget him, for better or worse. Jack, despite him pretending otherwise, never forgets people. Ever. That's how he knew whom to hide from and with whom he could drink. Had to know who was going to try and kill him, after all. Or slap him.

''Well, come on then.'' He looked up in confusion at Bill as he made to exit the barn. Bill made a rude gesture at his arched eyebrow. ''We need to clean you up and destink you if you want to go about this seeking redemption thing right.''

''I don't think destink is a word.'' He followed anyway, eager to get rid of the smell and at the chance he was being given. For whatever reason, Bill had remained behind to stick close to him and help him out and James was infinitely grateful for him. He was eager to go back to Jack and try to make things right.

''Don't care. After we get you new clothes and a wash, we'll need to hunt down your sword and anything else they might have taken before throwing you in there last night.'' Bill continued his litany with all the practice that came from trying to out-talk Jack Sparrow. ''Then we need to ask around for what ship will be willing to take us with them to Shipwreck Cove. Have to find a good captain or else we're skewered. And yes, I do mean skewered. Then we need to make sure you won't be shot on the spot-''

''Wait, why are we going to Shipwreck Cove?'' Norrignotn cut in the babble and Turner turned to look at him as though he suspected the opium might have killed James' brain. James just scowled at him and gestured for him to answer.

''Because the Pearl is heading there as we speak.''

''Yes, you said as much, but _why_?''

Bill blinked. ''James, do you still have your piece of eight?'' The green eyed man patted himself all over and soon came up empty handed. Bill sighed. ''Oh boy.''


	8. Chapter 8

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

''Chill, mate. At least we found your sword! A fine thing, it truly is. My son is a fine blacksmith.'' That was the first conversation Matthew heard when he set foot in Tortuga, legs shaky and his tummy queasy after the long voyage. Well, long for him, who had never been on a ship before, let alone on a voyage from Jamaica to Tortuga. ''Now all we need to do is find a ship and we're off.''

''If you would only for a second stop praising your son's work, you'd remember, Mr Turner, that I must find my piece of eight before we can set out.'' The boy's head snapped up at the familiar voice and name mentioned, hope rising in his heart. No way was he this lucky! He had found the Commodore in his first ten minutes in Tortuga! That must be record!

''You don't need the piece of eight right now! I already told you the song has been sung and I have my piece of eight right here if we were ever to need it.'' Although that voice didn't sound much like Mr Turner. Maybe he'd just forgotten it.

''Wasn't it a necessary part of being a pirate having one of those coins? Without it, I feel lost, almost. I don't belong with 'respectable' society and I don't belong with pirates, either, without it. It's like walking out on the street in only your underpants, and that's only because I have my sword with me. Besides, Jack had given me that coin himself. I'm not leaving without it.'' And he really _was_ a pirate under Captain Jack Sparrow?! Matthew's day couldn't get any better!

''James, it's quite possible that whoever had took it off of you had either left when he heard the humming or had sold it. It's an item of powerful magic, no matter how common it is among pirates.'' Matthew inched closer to where the voices were coming from, peeking out from behind a crate. He almost didn't recognize the Commodore with how much he had changed and how different he seemed without the stuffy wig.

''And it's also just as possible that they are still at the Faithful Bride, nursing a hangover.'' Norringotn countered as they walked just by the crates the little boy was hiding behind. Matthew inched a little closer and was about to run off after them when a big, black hand clamped around the collar of his shirt, lifting him clear off the ground with little trouble.

''Oi!''

''What do we have here, boys? A little sea rat!'' The gruff voice of the big African man said as the rest of the crew of the ship Matthew had been hiding on hissed or laughed at his misfortune.

''Let me go, you big gorilla!'' Matthew struggled, managing to turn around enough to face his captor, swinging his fists, trying to punch the privateer. His mates laughed with him as the boy just hung there, getting red in the face at all the mocking laughter and comments. He refused to let his eyes water. He wanted to be a pirate! Under the legendary Captain Jack Sparrow! He can't be a crybaby!

"Wot say you, mates? Should we let th' wittle sea rat back into his habitat?" More roaring laughter and whistles of approval followed his words and Matthew's eyes became wide and round, terrified. He wasn't the best swimmer and swimming in a harbor is impossible unless you're an expert. His captor grinned at him, showing rotting or missing teeth, and turned enough so that the lad was dangling over the water in his grip. "Goodbye, little sea rat."

Matthew closed his eyes and prepared to be dropped into water and swim for his life when a sword was placed at the black man's throat. Wide, scared yellowish eyes turned to look at the sword, up the blade to the guard and handle, up the hand and arm that was wielding it, over a broad shoulder and to the stern face that Matthew peaked at and smiled from ear to ear.

"I wouldn't be doing that, if I were you." James Norrington hissed in warning, putting the slightest bit of pressure on the man's neck, making the smallest of slices and a trickle of blood started running down black skin. "Put the boy down back on his feet, on this deck, _gently_ and no one gets hurt."

The man hesitated and the cocking of a gun echoed through the suddenly deathly silent group. Privateers were scared shitless of real pirates because pirates had something to die for - treasure and booty - and privateers usually tended to transport one or the other - or both - for the colonies and so their paths were bound to cross a lot more than the privateers liked. "I'd listen to him, mate. He's in a right foul mood. Bad night."

The man looked over to the tall Englishman's companion, only to find a gun cocked and pointed at his head, another pointing towards his crew mates, who didn't look to be having fun, now. They were silent and obviously unwilling to come to his aid. Looking back at the burning green eyes, the African gulped and did as he was bid, carefully placing the stowaway child to the dock and stepping away from him. Matthew immediately ran to the ex Commodore, hiding behind his legs and glaring around him at the men.

"There, that wasn't hard, now was it, mates?" The gun wielding pirate said as he trained both guns on the crew and he, along with Norrington, started backing away. There was no way they were going to turn their backs to these men when they'd just humiliated them. "Now, don't try to do anything _stupid_ , savvy?"

Matthew's eyes lit up. "You're from Captain Sparrow's crew?" He bounced over to the older man, tugging at his coat carefully so as not to disturb his aim. "Please, I need to see him!"

The privateers had all gone white as a sheet when they heard with whose men they were dealing with. James tried not to twitch as he continued backing them away. He rather doubted anyone would attack them now that they knew they 'belonged' to the Pirate King. Sailing under Jack's flag had more than once saved them a lot of trouble in ports like these and with men like mere privateers. "Later, lad. We need to find something first."

"Aye. Let's go, James." When they were out of the privateers' view, both Norrington and Turner tucked away their weapons and set a firm, fast pace towards the Faithful Bride, tugging the boy with them. "Who are you, lad? What are you doing here? Why are you alone?"

Matthew looked up at the older pirate, fascinated how much he looked like Mr Turner the blacksmith. He only looked older and more sea weary. "My name is Matthew Simmons, sir. I came here to speak with Captain Sparrow, sir." His eyes flickered between the two pirates, lingering on the straight backed former Commodore.

"Where from? And why were those men trying to drown you?" James was still silent, too busy with his musing to pay much attention to the boy so Bill took it upon himself to find out as much about their new mate as he could while the boy was still talking. "And you still haven't told me if you were alone."

"I am alone. I snook upon their ship to escape from Port Royal and to find Captain Sparrow!"

"Port Royal?" James stopped abruptly, whirling around to face the boy, shocked. "Why would you want to escape Port Royal?!" The obviously confused man asked incredulously.

"That's why I need to speak with Captain Sparrow! They're after _him_! There's this strange man that insists he's the English Prince and he's killing pirates to get Captain Sparrow's attention!" The boy insisted, pleading with the men. Almost desperately. "He wants to take him back to England to to treat him like some ... some ... some exotic beast in captivity or something!"

"What!?" Bootstrap snapped while gaping at the boy and James looked even more confused and a bit uncertain.

"Prince George?"

"He says I should call him Henry," the lad muttered bitterly, glaring at the ground, fist gripped tightly around something. Something that looked suspiciously like a piece of eight like the one James was looking for for himself. So the lad was a pirate. Or a wannabe pirate. "Has some pirate turned privateer to help him figure pirate things out and a book or something written by that freak Beckett from a few years ago and some guy insisting he's Admiral Norrington!" He looked up at the startled ex Commodore with mulish determination. "I didn't believe him, Commodore, sir! I knew he wasn't you! He doesn't even look like you! He's a mean old jerk!"

"James?" Bill asked hesitatingly, looking up at the stock still shocked taller man, unsure what to say, what to expect, if anything at all. The man was as white as a sheet, a hand gripped around his beloved sword, knuckles white. "Um, do you have a brother or ... ?" He trailed off, knowing of only one other Admiral Norrington and he had been warned off by Jack and Joshamee not to mention him. But it would seem that the man would not be ignored forever and had come now to haunt them.

"My father, in the Caribbean ... Here?" James' voice sounded distant even to his own ears. How could this be? His father was retired! Has been for the past twenty years! Why was he here? _How_ was he here? Did he know James was still alive? Was he here to try and drag him to be court-martialed? Jack won't take that lightly- "Jack!" He snapped back to the present, scaring his two companions when he all but yelled his lover's name. Or were they still lovers? It didn't matter! Jack was in danger, both from this obsessed Prince and from his father. He wouldn't let them take him away. He had lost too much and all that he now had were his two ex Lieutenants, the sea and Jack. And he was not letting even one of them slip out of his fingers again. He had to get to Jack.

But first ...

"James! Slow down, damn you!" Bill shouted after the retreating man as he all but sprinted towards the Faithful Bride, he and little Matthew following. James didn't heed his call, bursting in through the tavern doors and ignoring the moaning and groaning of the hungover pirates or the snoring of the rare few who'd managed to get some shut eye after the big bar fight. He looked around, cataloging faces and trying to remember who he had faced last night or who was near him before his coin disappeared. And while he was at it, he sought out the faces of those he knew had had a hand in his sleeping arrangements. "You need to wait for us, you damned Navy scoundrel!"

"There's no time to waste. Knowing my father, he won't wait a second longer than he needs to prepare his ships to go after Jack and Captain Teague again. He did it once before. He won't hesitate to do it again." There was one man sitting in a corner, half hungover and half drunk again, bitting at a coin that looked suspiciously like a piece of eight. _James'_ piece of eight. He'd recognize it anywhere, since he always kept it as polished as his sword or pistol. The likeliness that this pirate who was _biting_ it did the same was the same as Calypso allowing herself to be bound once again.

James didn't hesitate to walk over and sock him a good one, taking the coin when it flew out of his hand as he fell to the floor and he cleaned it off on his new shirt. When that was taken care of, he trudged right back out of the tavern, ignoring the shouting of the man's half aware mates as he and his two new shadows headed back for the docks.

Bill whistled when he caught up to the Englishman as he was appraising a swift little fishing boat, not really paying much attention to the gawking in admiration boy or the exasperated older pirate. ''Got quite a heavy fist there, ey, mate?''

''I think this will do.'' James ignored his useless comment as he inspected the vessel. She had large sails and seemed to be made of light wood, judging from the color and the patterns in it. If they could convince her captain to let them aboard and leave the fishing equipment behind to be replaced by something to defend themselves with, they might make it to Shipwreck Cove only one or two days at most behind Jack. That is, if there was to be any winds in their sails.

''You think this ship can catch the Black Pearl?'' Matthew asked dubiously, causing both men to snort.

''The _Flying Dutchman_ can't catch the Pearl, boy. Especially not when her Captain is at the helm.'' Bill ruffled the kid's hair, causing Matthew to scowl at him. ''The rest of us mortal men can't hope to get within sighting distance, let alone catch up to her.''

''Really?''

''It's the fastest ship to sail the seven seas.'' Turner said with a nod, kneeling down beside the boy while James went to speak with the barely sober captain of the fishing boat. It would seem that barely sober or hungover was the normal state of any man who spent the night in Tortuga. ''I'll tell you a secret Captain Jack never shared with anyone before. Can you keep it between us, lad?''

Eyes wide and eager for a story, a secret to be shared and never told to anyone else, Matthew nodded hastily. ''Cross my heart and hope to die!'' He made the appropriate X gesture with a finger over his heart to complete the oath and James, overhearing, rolled his eyes.

''Don't make such promises if you don't know whether you can keep them, young Matthew. And don't believe everything Jack's men tell you. Or any pirate, regarding Jack Sparrow. They tend to idealize and fantasize his adventures way out of proportion.''

''The one with the sea turtles was true enough.'' Bill challenged and Norringotn just sighed exasperatedly before turning back to the the man, bargaining for passage to Shipwreck Island. Bill took it as his victory and turned back to his eager and impatient audience. ''Rare few know the story about how the Black Pearl got her name, but there _are_ people who know it. But _no one_ knows the story about how she was built and when.'' He leaned closer, secretively and stage whispered. ''No one except Jack Sparrow.''

Now even Norringotn was listening with one ear, half his attention turned to the conversation with the fishing captain, the other half on the story. Jack had never told him anything about how his beloved ship was built. He had just assumed that he didn't know.

''There is an old legend. A part of lore. About the merpeople.'' The twice cursed and twice uncursed pirate continued. Even the fishermen of the boat, having arrived to the scene of three strangers in front of their boat, were listening avidly. ''It is said that merpeople have many magical powers and curses bound to their flesh and scales. You may have heard the more popular ones, like if a mermaid falls in love with a sailor and tells him, she will turn to foam, or how a mermaid's kiss forever saves you from drowning. Or how many parts of their anatomy might bring you immortality in different rituals. But the most unknown tale, so unknown only a mermaid can tell it to you, is what happens when a mermaid cries over a dying sailor.''

''What happens?'' The boy asked in barely a whisper, on the edge of his toes as he leaned closer to Bill. Most of the other men were, as well, never having heard something like that before.

''If a mermaid were to feel sadness at a human's death and shed a tear for him, that tear will heal all of his wounds, or so the lore says, while the mermaid herself will be swallowed by the sea and, if the sea gods should find the sailor worthy, they will turn her into the finest, most beautiful ship. Unrivaled by anything human hands could ever build, the stories say. And that ship will belong only to a Captain that can shed a tear for her, should anything happen to her. Legend says that the first captain of such a ship insisted that the hull must be decorated with a figurehead to honor the mermaid that had, with her tear, saved him. That's why pirates believe figureheads are practically a necessary part of the ship.''

''But what does this have to do with the making of the Black Pearl?'' Matthew whined in protest, not following and Bill chuckled.

''Very little, little one. But it has everything to do with the making of the Wicked Wench, how she was called before she became the Pearl. You see, Mattie, the more in tuned with the sea - such as Captain Jack - can hear ships sing, as he calls it. It's not a particular sound but he says its a feeling deep in his heart that tugs at his senses. He was told, once, that it was because of his deep love for the Wicked Wench (now Black Pearl) that he could hear her, that his very soul was bound to her by the leftover song of a mermaid.''

''By whom?'' An unconvinced fisherman snorted, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes at the pirates and their silly stories.

''A mermaid, mate. And later by the by the sea goddess Calypso herself.'' Turner replied without missing a beat. ''She rather likes him, you see. Mermaids, too, as they are bound by the law of the sea to swear eternal fealty to any human who helps their kind. Jack has a friend mermaid and she told him she can feel her sister's soul within the wood of the Pearl. The mermaid was, of course, long since dead and had been completely dormant until Jack found the Wench. The mermaid's soul only responds to a sailor who would shed a tear for his ship. Captain Jack bloody loves that ship.''

''So he can hear her sing?'' The boy was fairly dancing in his too big boots from excitement.

''So he says and I'm inclined to believe him. For all that he was younger than me back then, he'd seen far more of the world than I can ever hope.''

''What-''

''Long story,'' James and Bill intoned when the boy tried to ask about Bill's strange words, much to his disappointment if his pout was anything to go by. Too bad for him that they sailed under an almost constantly pouting Captain for them to be much bothered or moved by the wobbly lip. ''But somehow far more believable than the one you've just told.''

Bill glared at him with a sneer. ''That's what I said, too, and I barely survived my encounter with Lucia just a few minutes after I heard it.''

''Lucia?'' All the men present echoed and the pirate nodded his head.

''Yes, Lucia. The mermaid. Nice lass, once you've had Jack vouch for you and tell her not to eat you for breakfast.'' James just shook his head and turned back to the now gawking Captain. He made a note in the back of his mind to ask Jack for this story ... If they make up, that is. Or if he survives. Rumors travel faster than the Pearl among pirates. James shuddered to think what his once savior might do to him now if it reaches his ears just how he had hurt his only, most precious son.

''Anyway, will you take us to Shipwreck Island?''

The wide eyed man turned to look at James with horror. ''What!? No! I'm not going anywhere near a mermaid dealing son of the devil! If ya want to go to that devil spawn place, ya can take the boat and leave me and my men be!'' The man did something akin to Gibbs' superstitious dance before fleeing from the docks, half his men following instantly, the other staring at James, Bill and little Matthew for a few more minutes before losing their nerve and fleeing after their captain.

James and Matthew both arched their eyebrows at the whistling Bootstrap as he boarded the ship. It was not too big for it to be too big for three men - or rather, two men and a boy - to steer her to Shipwreck Cove. The Passage was going to be another thing, since neither Bill nor James have ever made the Crossing as anything but a deckhand. ''You did that on purpose.''

''True enough, but the story was just as truthful, too.'' Mr Turner replied, checking over what they had in the cargo hold. ''Give me a hand getting rid of this netting to make us lighter, this faster. These blokes got her all ready for us. We can set sail in maybe an hour.''

''You're not seriously thinking about taking a boy onto a voyage that involves the Crossing?!''

''Of course. He's gonna need to tell Captain Jack all about his meeting with the Prince, Admiral Norrington and that pirate. It's Jack's head on the line, James.'' The older man spoke with all seriousness. ''Jack will know the right questions to ask and he'll figure out what to do far faster than any of us will. Especially if this Prince is anything like Beckett.''

''Besides!'' Matthew called from where he was already hauling the fishing equipment off of the ship. ''I want to join his crew so I can avenge my sister!''

''It's not very likely he'll let you join if that's your only motive, lad. He's had his fair share of people wanting revenge against him and he himself wanting revenge and neither way was he happy with the end results.''

''And why would you want to turn pirate?'' James asked, glaring at Bill for giving the boy such a weak argument against joining Jack's crazy crew that was bound to go on a thousand more crazy adventures that might lead the boy to his death. Bootstrap just shrugged, unbothered. You get used to the Commodorial glare after a few months out at sea.

'' _You_ turned pirate.'' The little Simmons challenged and Norrington facepalmed. He ignored their third companion's snickering. He'll get back at him later.

''Indeed, but for an admittedly good cause. Jack is a good man and Beckett was a menace.''

''So is the case this time around, only the Prince is a menace.'' Mathew nodded his head and James just shook his. There was no point arguing with the boy. He was definitely mulish enough to join Sparrow's crazy crew. He'll fit right in. Conceding defeat in favor of getting the boat ready and catching up to his endangered lover, James instead turned to the task of getting rid of the fishing equipment and pilfering a few of the other docked ship's supplies.

He ignored Matthew's little smugly beaming face as best as he could. He hoped, for the sake of his reputation and not being tempted to hang any of the Pearl's crew from the ship's own yardarm due to unbearable teasing, that no one ever heard that the great pirate hunter Commodore/Admiral James Norringotn had admitted defeat to a pirate child.

He wouldn't have Salazar's valid excuse that it was Sparrow to save face, after all.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

Three days in after leaving Tortuga, Jack's attention was caught by Marty's loud ''SAIL, HO!'' from his position at the helm and they all looked in the direction the midget was pointing in up in the crows-nest.

''What flag, Marty me mate?!'' Jack called up to the short man while the rest of his crew automatically began preparing the guns. They all knew the song has been sung and that meant that open waters were as unsafe now as they had been when Salazar's ghost or Jones were hunting them for Beckett and his Company.

''Ye'll want ta see this one fer yerself, Capt'in!''

''The bloody hell?'' Sparrow muttered under his breathe, giving the helm over to Mr Cotton as he, with Gibbs and Annamaria flanking him, made his way over to the railing and opened a new telescope - a gift from Elizabeth dearest from their latest haul - to see the ship through the magnifying glasses. He nearly dropped the things when he recognized the pirate flag. More precisely, the pirate flag of one of the Pirate Lords.

Even more precisely, the pirate flag of one of the Pirate Lords that went by the name of Captain Hector Barbossa.

For all that in the past two years, when they happened to meet in some port or pass each other out on the sea, that they had managed to somehow rekindle their old friendship through means unclear even to them, some of their standard hostilities and bitterness at stealing ships from each other/killing each other/trying to make a repeat performance had remained and their interactions nowadays resembled fights between two old frenemies, as Elizabeth and Annamaria had dubbed them. No one quite understood the nature of their dynamics and it had more than once had James near tugging all of his pretty hair out from worry, frustration and sheer nerves whenever he was forced to sit by and watch Jack and Hector drink and toast like old mates. Still, every new meeting always started the same: with guns and cutlasses and cannons primed and ready, although cannon fire was usually more of a greeting than anything. They had never aimed at each other's ships, especially since Jack had went out of his way to commandeer Barbossa a ship of his own so he would once and for all stop chasing the Pearl. It was just to be sure, despite it being rather obvious that Barbossa was not willing to risk his life for the black ship. Jack always went with the whole 'better safe than sorry' business when his beloved ship was at stake.

''Bugger,'' he muttered under his breathe again and heaved a sigh when he saw another flag join the jolly roger. A flag well known to mean parley between two captains among pirates. Jack ordered for the same flag to be raised in answer and massaged his forehead. As much as he was in no mood to deal with Barbossa right now - he had not had a decent night of sleep since before Tortuga, but he had at least been able to doze off knowing James was on the ship; he'd not had a wink of sleep since they left him and Bootstrap behind in Tortuga - he knew he could not well enough ignore it. Not only does it go against the Code - and what sort of Pirate Kind and example to all would he be if he disregarded the Code when he felt like it? His own Da would skin him alive! - but the beggar would become insufferable when they finally made port in Shipwreck Cove and Jack actually rather liked their current arrangement. Far better than just shooting each other. At least Hector paid for drinks every other time.

An hour later, he was staring into the blue eyes of his once first mate and mortal nemesis, a plank placed between their ships for the 'meeting'. Barbossa seemed to be doing well, his crew seemed to be mostly satisfied and his monkey was as annoying as ever. ''Hector, darlin', you seem to be well.''

''Aye, I be well Jack. You, on th' other hand, look as though the Kraken spit ya out again. What be th' matter with ya?'' Jack flinched at the reminded of his death and saw a strange glint of guilt in Barbossa's eyes, there and gone before he could ponder it much. ''What be wrong with ya?''

''Nothin','' he replied with a hiss but Barbossa knew him too well to even begin believing such an obvious lie, especially with how he had spat it out. ''Headin' fer the Cove?''

''Obviously.'' Hector frowned, wondering if the sun had gotten to him before making the offer he had been mulling over anyway. ''I 'ave some fine Cuban rum in me cabin, if ye can spare a min'te.'' He actually wondered if it were healthy to worry about Sparrow when the younger Captain actually hesitated to accept the offer. He'd never known Jack to turn down free rum, even the cheapest kind.

Finally, Jack shrugged and made to cross over onto the deck of the Snake Charmer, following Hector when the bigger and older man led him to his cabin, leaving monkey Jack with his bos'n since he knew the two Jack's don't get along. He ignored the Pearl's crew's fretting as he closed the door of his cabin and instantly focused on getting them their drinks. He was rather interested to hear what had Sparrow in such a state. ''So, what be it, then? Lost som'one?'' He saw the minute flinch and carried on as he handed Sparrow his goblet, taking a drink from his own. ''I not'ced the lack of yer two shadows. Bad clash?''

''Good clash, actually. Too good.'' The Caspian Pirate Lord started at the dead tone of voice the Pirate King was using, never having heard him sound like that before. ''Good haul. A British ship on the ocean floor. No casualties in my crew.''

''Then what be the problem?''

''A dead Englishman, actually.''

''Just one?'' The confused Irishman asked in surprise and Jack just nodded, a lost look in his eyes. Barbossa mulled this over while Jack took a deep gulp of his rum, unusually silent. ''A friend of yer Commodore's I take it?''

''Got it in one.'' Sparrow confirmed with a sigh, finding it quite disconcerting that he was talking about this with his traitorous first mate, of all people. ''He lunged at me and I stabbed him. Turned out to be real precious to Jamie. We had a fight. I think we might be over.''

''Ya can't be sure o' that, Jack. He's put up with ya fer two years. He'll get over it in time.'' The older captain snorted into his drink. ''Where he be now?''

''Tortuga still, would be my guess. He stayed behind.'' Sparrow sounded small, young, lost and helpless, so unlike the Captain he had once served and betrayed, Barbossa mused with a frown. He didn't like it. It didn't fit him at all. And it wouldn't do to have the Pirate King in such a state when they finally reach the Cove. The Keeper alone would cause enough chaos than any of them would be ready to deal with.

''Ye left him behind?''

''He stayed behind.'' Sparrow stressed and Barbossa rolled his eyes.

''My apologies, let me make meself clear. Ye _let_ him stay behind?'' He arched an eyebrow challengingly. ''That don't sound like ye, Jack.''

''I wouldn't well force him. Ye know I'm against that. It were his choice.'' The younger glared right back.

''Then this be 'bout more than a little lovers spat, I wager.'' Jack's lack of answer said it all but what the argument had actually been about. Hector sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose. ''Ya should've waited fer him, ya fool. Wotever it be, he's far too gone fer ya to let this get in the way of yer buggering.''

''It's far more than that, Hector, and I'm not sure I know how to quite deal with it all.''

''Then learn, like the rest of us unfortunate folk. It's wot makes us human and ye're as human as th' rest o' us, Jack.'' It really was disconcerting to be talking with Sparrow when he was like this. "'Tis somethin' ye and most other people seem to be fergetin'. Ya can't know everythin', Jack. Ya may be able t' remember th' 'ntire Code but ya can't know ev'ry secret o' the world. Ya need ta learn 'em like ev'ryone else. And fer love, 'tis somethin' worth learnin' fer."

He watched in amusement as Sparrow's head snapped up, startled and wary as black eyes watched him with suspicion and panic. "Don't know wot ye're talkin' 'bout, mate." Barbossa snorted but he had to give Jack credit. His voice didn't waver and no emotion entered his face as he said it, but he'd known Jack since Sparrow was still only a lad. Know your enemy and all that. It's very hard to do it, but you _can_ learn to read him after some time. He wasn't about to take this bullshitting of his.

"Sparrow, I'm not stupid. I see 'ow ye look at 'im and I see ye're blind t' how he looks at ya in turn. Like I said, he's far too gone fer ya t' let ya mess it all up. Ya just need t' learn not t' shy away from yer relationships. 'T will make th' rest of our lives much easier." He snorted again, pouring them both more rum when Sparrow downed the rest of his like water. "Ya need to accept it, if not ou'right tell 'im. An' try t' at least apologize fer killin' his friend."

"I don't know if I'll get the chance, Hector. We've been only fighting since then and just yesterday morning, I fear he's made his decision."

"Did he sit down to think about it and decided as such or did he make it on the spot in a bout of rage?"

"Does it matter?"

"Course it does, ya incompetent ninny! Things said in anger are rarely ever truly meant!" The older man actually got up and cuffed Sparrow over the head, hard. He ignored the indignant yelping of the Pirate King as he sat back down in his chair. "An' knowin' ya as well as I do, I'd wager ye'd some'ow managed to annoy 'im and he only wanted to get a raise outta ya. Ya tend ta hide behind that mask o' yers. 'Tis always annoyin' when ya do that. I swear I wanted ta shoot ya instead of savin' ya two years ago." He took another sip, studying the unusually silent man. Definitely unnerving, when he was like this. "Ye're like a wounded animal, Jack. Ya hide your hurts an' put on a strong mask, pretendin' ye can do it all on yer lonesome when ya need help. 'T makes people b'lieve ye're invincible and they keep expectin' more from ya. And that, Jack, will one day lead ya to a boatload of trouble ye can't get out of by yerself an' no one there t' help. Ya need to accept ya need someone by yer side, ye great nincompoop. Norrington seemed ta be just right. Don't let 'im slip through yer fingers."

Jack was silent for a long moment, just looking at the bottom of his cup, deep in thought. Hector knew this silence at least and so he relaxed, watching the emotions flickering through coal colored eyes with interest. It was always a delight - no matter how much Barbossa would deny this to his last breath - to watch that sharp mind of Sparrow's contemplate a problem. His thoughts skipped each other like waves and rare few could follow him when he started rambling about something. But he always came up with some harebrained conclusion or plan that made one wonder whether he was mad or brilliant. It was incredible how those two tended to be separated by a very thin line, especially where Sparrow was concerned.

When Jack finally looked up from his rum, Barbossa was near ready to doze off a little, the lulling rocking of the sea, the surprising ease he felt in his once Captain's presence (who would have thought there'd be any comradire between them after all they have done to each other?) and the pleasant warmth of rum getting to him. Sparrow's honestly grateful voice shook him awake immediately, however.

"Thank you, Hector. I think I really needed that." Barbossa squinted at his drinking companion, watching as Jack took a drink.

"Ye're gonna stop runnin'?"

"From Jamie, yes." The younger replied. "I'll still need t' be runnin' from all other sorts o' trouble that tends t' stalk me." Barbossa barked a laugh at the cheeky remark, feeling something like relief fill him. He didn't question it, knowing nothing good would come from it, and instead raised his rum in toast.

"Aye, trouble stalks ye alright. To trouble an' all the adventure that comes with it!"

"To freedom!" Jack added and they clanked their tankards together, finishing their drinks off in a few long gulps. They burped together before all humor left their faces and they turned serious at the same time, sensing what else must be discussed. "Speakin' of freedom, do ya know who's endangerin' ours?"

Hector scowled, glaring out of the porthole on the starboard side. "Ney, I know not. But I do know about the song and where our new enemy be from."

"Do ye now?" If he needed to say more, it wasn't with Barbossa.

"The song has been sang in Port Royal again. From wha' I 'eard, an old pirate hunter's back fer more, workin' with some nobleman."

"Means our enemy are the English again." Jack grumbled tiredly, dragging a hand over his eyes and somehow not smearing the kohl there. "Just lovely. Maybe it was good Jamie stayed behind. I'd rather not make him fight his countrymen and fellow Navy again."

The Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea snorted again. "Jack, that man be more pirate than Sao Feng can ever hope t' be. He's no longer a Navy man. Hasn't been fer a very long time now. Ya need t' stop thinkin' of 'im as such if ya really want to integrate 'im into his new way of life. The more ya think of 'im as Navy or treat him as such, the harder it will be fer the bloke to fully accept that there's no turnin' back. Ya gotta let his old life go, damn you. He can't do that if you don't, too. The guy's got a piece of eight, fer cryin' out loud! He ain't Navy any more than ye or I belong ashore."

"You had another run in with Sao Feng?" Sparrow asked, focusing on that instead of the mushy stuff. "Where? When?"

"A little South-Southeast from 'ere. A day's sail, I think. Yesterday. He insisted he were answerin' the call, but he wouldn'tve made it all the way here already if that were the case." Barbossa muttered, obviously not believing a word the Pirate Lord of Singapore had said. Understandable, seeing as the bold man had gladly sold out his own kind to Beckett just two years ago. "I don't trust him."

"I think he was telling the truth this time 'round." Jack defended with a shrug, getting up to flit around Barbossa's cabin, like was his wont to. Barbossa for the first time wasn't bothered by it, since it meant that Sparrow was slowly going back to being himself, something they'll need for the Brethren Court. As long as a single place can't hold him for long, he was good. It was strange being Sparrow's confidant. He didn't think he'd been that even when he was his first mate.

"And what makes ya think that?" He questioned and narrowed his eyes at Sparrow's smirk. That never bode well. For anyone.

"Well, you see, our dear sea goddess is, apparently, quite eager fer this problem t' be dealt with."

"Calypso?"

"The one and only."

"Why would she be eager fer us to deal with this?" Barbossa asked suspiciously, finally understanding the extremely good wind and fast currents that had been speeding them along since the song has been sang.

"She told me 'erself that it were havin' terrible consequences fer dear Davy an' she ain't happy about that, not one bit."

"She visited you?" The older male asked incredulously before his eyes narrowed. "Course she did. Ye're her favorite. What else did she say?"

"That th' Court needs to deal wiff this. Fast. I think she's helpin' us along fer the meetin'. Even the Pearl is goin' faster than is mostly normal." Jack replied, rubbing at his forehead. "I think she wants to make sure we actually go to the meetings to avoid previous instances where Pirate Lords didn't bother showing up at all if they weren't required or simply couldn't be bothered. I had to drag Chevalle to a meeting once."

"That why he always be glarin' at ye from afar?" Sparrow chortled at the question.

"Nah, that's because I beat him in a duel and he's sulking that every single one of his men and every pirate in the Carribean and the Mediterranean Seas know that he's been defeated by a mere cabin boy."

Barbossa arched an eyebrow. "That be before the Pearl?"

"Aye, before the Pearl but not the Wench." Jack replied with a small smile. "It was when I was sailing under Captain Morgan and the Keeper assigned us the oh so noble duty of getting across the direness of the situation with Salazar across to their thick heads to Chevalle, Eduardo and Jacord. Turned out Jacord was caught by the Spanish and about to be hanged, but we were in that port at the right time to bust him free. Well, I was. We had to row to the Wench for five hours. Eduardo didn't make much of a fuss when he heard _why_ the Brethren Court was being assembled but Chevalle refused to come so I had to duel him. If I win, he comes along. If not, I give him a hefty sum of coins. I believe you can guess how that all turned out."

"So Calypso wants no funny business?"

"Aye. We're on the clock here, mate. We need to hurry to Shipwreck Cove." Jack went to stand up but Barbossa was already upon him, pushing him back into his seat, a grin on his face that had Jack eying him suspiciously.

"Relax, Jaack." Barbossa drawled, bringing his chair closer, trapping the wary pirate with his sharp gaze. "We 'ave time. If th' sea goddess 'erself wants to blow wind in our sails, then wot be the need fer hurryin'? There's a nice little port on a secluded island, made jus' a few months ago fer ol' sea dogs like us. We can stop fer a day. Me crew's not had shore leave in months."

"Why do I have this uncomfortable feeling that you're working against me again, mate?"

"Nonsense!" Hector crowed, pouring more rum in Jack's tankard. "Drink up, me hearties yo ho!"

Jack eyed the rum before sighing and drinking it. "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me."

"Arrrrgh!" The older pirate roared into his creepy laughter, getting out of his chair and addressing both crews. "Get t' work, you slimy, good fer nothin' sea ghouls! We're havin' a day of shore leave with rum fer all!" His crew cheered while the Pearl's crew looked uneasy as all hell. They didn't want to take orders from Barbossa while Jack was still in his cabin, his fate unknown. "Set sail fer-"

"Not so fast!" Will Turner called out, cutting him off. "We're not sailing anywhere until we hear it from Jack himself!" Barbossa had to admire how much the lad had grown. He was no longer so naive to pirates and their way. He wasn't going to believe words alone. Time with Sparrow had obviously served him and his wife well, if the way they were looking ready to board his ship for their Captain was anything to go by.

"'Tis alright, whelp." Jack said as he exited Barbossa's cabin and the Pearl's crew sighed a collective sigh of relief. Which turned a bit incredulous when they noticed how cheery the man was and that a lot more of it was genuine and not just an act, like the last few days. The savvy Captain was boarding his ship with the same skip in his step that had been absent since the first argument with James. "I guess we 'ave enough time fer a drink or two. Besides," he was gesticulating with his hands as he sashayed his way to the helm. "Our own shore leave was rather rudely cut short. 'Tis not fair fer the crew. Bad luck, that is." He rolled his eyes as soon as Gibbs started some stupid superstitious bad luck repelling gestures before looking Will straight in the eye. "A day can't hurt with these winds."

Will and Elizabeth exchanged a look between them before Mrs Turner looked towards Barbossa, the barest of nods of thanks sent his way. "Then, Captain Barbossa, you were saying?"

"Set sail towards Isla de Pequeña la Teta!"

"Aye!"

"Lord help us," Jack muttered under his breath.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

"That story you told Matthew," Bill looked up at the unusual midday greeting, arching an eyebrow at his fellow pirate. "The one about how the Wicked Wench was built ... That's all bullocks, isn't it? That ship was made like any other. You just told that story to scare away the sailors, right?"

"Aye, that part be true enough. I don't know how or when the Black Pearl was built, whether mystically or by human hands, but the legend I told is right true, Mr Norrington." Turner said from where he was trying to get more wind in the sails, not looking up from his work when another pair of hands joined his. "Not many sailors know it. What I said about it being told only by mermaids ... That _is_ true. As is Lucia and her strange ... friendship with Captain Jack, if you can call it that. Really met her, once. Very nearly died. Don't know how she and Jack really met, but she's fond of him and he protects her from sailors, as far as I understood from what little they talked about in front of me. And she calls the Pearl her sister. It right confused me, when I heard her say it the first time. So Jack told me the legend. I thought it were a good way to secure us a ship this time 'round."

"I thought mermaids were beautiful, seductive, hypnotic, singing fish women that caused men to crash their ships and ate the very flesh off their bodies while they still breathed?" Norrington asked as he secured the final line and stepped back, looking up at the all too still sails. Nothing. Not even a breathe of wind. Not a whisper.

"They are, but apparently not if you earn their favor." Bootstrap shrugged, glaring at the unmoving canvass. "As I said, a story Jack'll have to tell. As for the Pearl and her 'conception' ... If Jack knows anything about it, he's never said as much."

"But you think he was hinting at something with the story he told you, about mermaids?"

"You never know with our illustrious Captain, James. What seems impossible for the rest of the world is only improbable for him. That's how he became a legend so young." The older Turner turned back to glare at the sails after a quick, meaningful glance at Norrington. "Blast! Not a gust of wind! We'll never make it to Shipwreck Cove in these conditions!"

"It's as though the sea itself has turned against us!" Matthew, overhearing this from where he was walking over to them with a crate of apples, complained. "I thought sailing in open waters was more than this. No wind at all since we set out from Tortuga! We must be jinxed."

"It's alright, lad. This happens at times, too." Bill reassured as he absently took an apple, still glaring at the all too still sails. James, though, stiffened and looked out at the horizon, no wind, minute waves and minimally weak currents. _'As though the itself is against us? Of_ course _she is.'_ He walked away from his two companions and came to stand on the aft end of the small fishing boat, gripping the railing tightly as he hid from the sight of Bill and Matthew.

"Calypso? I require an audience with you. Please, just a moment of your time!" He knew that he ought to sound more like he was begging if he wanted the goddess to heed his call. She was, after all, in fact a woman and as Jack had pointed out so, and a woman scorned could be far worse than hell itself. James tried hard not to think just how else she might take her revenge for what he had done and how he had been treating Jack.

 _"An' why should I grace ya wiff me presence, James Norrington?"_ Came a whisper in the wind, sending a chill down Norrington's spine at how cold it was. The fishing boat stirred, sailed a few meters before stopping again, much to Bill's and Matthew's shared frustration. _"Ye don' stan' high in me regard dese days."_

"Because I've wronged Jack the way I did, no doubt." James replied, bracing himself. He had no idea how the goddess might react. "And wronged him greatly I did. I am sailing after him to beg for forgiveness." The sea very suddenly became uneasy and their boat lurched at the new waves. "And to ensure his safety, my lady. The new threat is all too focused on him. I wish to make sure he is alright and safe and to make sure he _keeps_ that way. Far away from my father."

The sea stilled again and James held his breath. He nearly skewered her with his sword when Calypso appeared behind him in settlement. Thankfully, he didn't, or he might as well have died right then and there. The woman, looking much more like her swamp version, arched a single brow at him, not impressed. "Ye 'ave me attention, James. Use it _wisely_."

"Thank you." He breathed, sheating his sword. "I wish to apologize to you for what I have done to Jack. I know you are very fond of him and _yes_ , I am aware that it is not really you I should be apologizing to first but you're here and I thought you deserved it, too." Calypso eyed him for a long moment before accepting with a nod. "I know I probably don't deserve the right to ask this, but I am ready to _beg_ you to let us sail. We need strong winds and currents if we are to make it to Tortuga with enough time for me to apologize properly to Jack before the other Pirate Lords arrive and we no longer have a chance to do talk. Can you _please_ help us along?"

"I really should refuse ya on principl', but I be more interested in seein' Witty Jack happy ag'in. Very well." She sighed and the wind started blowing with her exhale, lurching and jerking their little fishing boat forwards rather suddenly. Judging by the two yells at the middle of the ship, Bill and Matthew had fallen over on their asses when they started moving. "But ya needn't be goin' all de way ta Shipwreck Island ta talk with 'im. I knew ya would be goin' after Witty Jack an' 'im precious Pearl, so I made sure 'e 'ad a distraction alon' de way. Dey be at Isla de Pequeña Tita. Ya 'ave a day ta catch up."

"With these winds and currents, I'm sure we can manage." James replied with a grateful smile and the woman returned it just before disappearing with the wind. James shook his head and went back to the helm, calling out to Bill and Matthew to make sure they were using all of the wind as he adjusted their course so they were following Calypso's currents rather than any map or compass. They were running speedily along for five hours straight at a constant speed when Bill finally came up to the ex Navy officer.

"Whatever you did, you did it well. Good job, mate." James nodded in acknowledgement, letting Bill take the wheel only after two more hours of sailing, when it was already starting to set. "Get some rest, mate. You're gonna be doing a _lot_ of groveling when we find Captain Jack."

"I will be gladly," the younger man replied, hesitant to leave the deck for fear of Calypso wanting him to suffer and not letting them have wind if he's not at the helm.

 _"G' on. Rest yer weary head. Wind be da same."_ Came the whisper on the wind again and Norrington conceded, going bellow deck and into one of the hammocks. He was asleep before his head hit his bunched up coat of a pillow, Matthew snoring softly a few feet away.

When he next opened his eyes to rays of sunlight streaming into the bellow deck, their little fishing boat was ready to be docked in Pequeña Tita.

00000

"I don't like this," Will muttered to Elizabeth as they made their way down from a room in one of the more popular taverns on Isla de Pequeña Tita, glaring to where Barbossa was already awake and nursing the mother of all hangovers. The younger Turner delighted at his pained expression whenever he saw it. Good. The bastard deserved it, challenging Jack to a rum drinking contest. He had drank him and ten other sailors twice his size and four times his weight under the table like a pro and Jack was already up and about, humming Elizabeth's song under his breath as he sipped more rum out of the bottle, Gibbs and Marcus nursing their own heads on either side of their Captain. The two old sailors have been all but competing as to who made a better first mate for Jack ever since the Pearl's and the Wench's crews merged. Jack and Elizabeth found it _highly_ amusing to watch them flounder around after the eccentric Captain. Will honestly pitied them.

"Hm?" Elizabeth, with a small headache of her own, asked half heartedly, rubbing her forehead in hopes of avilating the headache. "What, Will?"

"Barbossa," the man replied, glaring at said captain while said captain was glaring at the Pirate King. "He's up to something and it involves Jack. I don't like this. He's vulnerable right now, what with what happened with Norrington. Barbossa is setting him up for something, I just know it!"

"Will," his wife sighed long sufferingly, plopping herself very unladylike in the closest seat available and pulling her stubborn husband with her. He reluctantly went, wanting to be ready to leap to Jack's defense if Barbossa truly proved to be a threat. "Barbossa's not up to anything. At least not anything sinister." At the _look_ she received from the younger of two Turners, Elizabeth paused. "Well, nothing sinister regarding Jack, at least. They've help up an accord for _two years_ , Will. He won't break it now and over _nothing_."

"You weren't _there_ , Elizabeth!" The young man insisted. "You should have _seen_ Barbossa's face when Jack offered to call him _Commodore._ What if that idea is still stuck in his head?"

"Jack won't sail under Barbossa. He's the Pirate King, an _Admiral_ , almost." Lizzy reasoned but William wasn't ready to believe there was anything good in Barbossa. Not after all the times he'd used or double crossed them all. _Especially_ Jack.

Will also quite willfully failed to remember that he'd pretty much done the same. On multiple occasions.

"Maybe he's trying to manipulate him into giving up his title, hm? Or at least his hold on the Caribbean."

"Jack's too savvy for that, my dear paranoid husband." Another suffering sigh. Will was not convinced. "Why would he choose to do it _now_?"

"Because Norrington's not here to chase him with sword and improvised noose?" Will offered, not sounding sure of his own reasoning and Elizabeth rolled her eyes. In the background, they heard Jack calling for another and Gibbs' and Marcus' groans. There had been a nasty bar fight last night, almost as bad as the one that happened their last and only night in Tortuga, but not quite. Still, Marcus had the bad luck of being socked in the jaw by a burly Spaniard while a French whore had hit Gibbs over the head with a half fool bottle of rum. An Englishman had tried attacking Jack, but had thought better of it when Sparrow had whipped out his gun, primed and ready, pointing it at the man's crotch. Some of Jack's foul mood must have stayed over from his fights with James. He used it well.

"James _is_ a bit strangely overprotective of Jack." Elizabeth noted absentmindedly as a barmaid brought over some breakfast. Small the island and new port might be, but they had the best stews in the Caribbean. She hoped Jack will make port here more often. Or convince the cook to turn to piracy and join the crew of the Black Pearl. She hopped for the latter. It was quite delicious.

"Focus, love," Will snapped his fingers in front of his wife's eyes, ignoring her glare as that amplified her headache. She wasn't one to overindulge and she really hadn't drank all that much, but she had joined the beginnings of the drinking contest, tipsy enough to accept the challenge but sober enough to stop after the third round. She'd at least outlasted two Chinese men! Will had not even dared join in, knowing he was a terrible lightweight. "Barbossa, sinister schemes involving Jack in the absence of Norrington? Seems like an opportune moment to me."

"Except that by losing one shadow, Jack got two in the forms of Gillete and Theodor." The woman pointed out reasonably. True enough, behind Jack's table were a green in the face Andrew, perfectly sober Annamaria and a sleepy Theodor. "And James is not lost, dear husband. I can bet with surety my part of the loot that he's already on his way and probably ready to beg for forgiveness."

"Are we talking about the same James Norrington?" Her companion snorted, shoving a spoonful into his mouth. "The same guy who stole the heart just when Jack needed it the most? Who's to say he won't steal the protection he'd given Jack when he needs it most now?"

"By that account, should Jack be expecting from me to shackle him to the mast of his ship and leave him to die at the hands - or tentacles, as had been the case last time - of a monster? Or should he be wary that you'll try to steal the Black Pearl and run off to your death in a battle against Davy Jones?" Elizabeth challenged, ignoring how she grew cold - like always - when she mentions her hand in Jack's death and the building of the mask he'd been showing since the first fight with James.

Will blanched as well, a guilty frown tugging at his lips. "I see your point. About us _and_ James. But not about Barbossa. And not about James coming to beg. That man is far too proud for that."

"He let me reject him publicly and let you go. He went to Tortuga willingly to hold a stakeout for Jack." The once lady pointed out. "He's not exactly high on pride anymore. Honor, yes. Pride, no."

Will had to concede to that. "And what about Barbossa?"

"I guess he _is_ a bit iffy." Elizabeth at last admitted and Will smirked. "But I don't think he'll be trying anything, James or no James. Besides, James won't stay away too long."

"God, Elizabeth! How naive can you be!?" The younger Turner rolled his eyes at his wife, who glared at him for that comment. "He won't be running after Jack immediately, even if he does come after him. And he certainly won't beg, I still stand behind that."

"Are you ready to bet on it?" The blond female pirate challenged, making the confused man arch an eyebrow.

"Elizabeth?"

"Well, are you?"

"Very well," Will replied, obviously accepting the challenge. "What is the wager?"

"One month, the loser does a half of the winner's duties aboard the Pearl. I say James will arrive within the next couple of days."

"And I say he won't come until we're three days in the Cove at the earliest." Will extended a hand to his wife. "Do we have a deal?"

"Yes." Elizabeth accepted the offered hand and flagged down the barmaid and ordered them both a tankard of mead. "Prepare to lose, dear husband."

"I hope doing half of my duties on top of your own won't be too much." They clanked their tankards together as a final agreement just as the tavern doors burst open, making Gibbs jump up in fright and topple over while half of the other patrons try half-successfully to draw their weapons from startlement. They all turned to look at the door, but whoever had opened them had practically teleported to Jack's table, toppling over Marcus as well. With a yelp, Sparrow found himself wrapped up tightly in strong, blue clad arms, a face buried in his neck with a litany of apologies being muttered into his skin. Bootstrap and some boy followed soon after, out of breath and doubled over from the sprint, the pirate grinning when he spotted James.

Will was left gawking at the scene while Elizabeth smirked. "You were saying, dear?"

William groaned.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

James didn't waste a second when they docked, running into the small town and looking from tavern to tavern until he stumbled into the real one, finding Jack sitting in between two hungover first mates, former and current, drinking rum and looking in a fairly good mood. He all but teleported to his side, sliding his arms around the shorter man as though afraid he'd disappear any second now. He ignored Sparrow's yelp and made good on his promises, muttering heartfelt apologies into the sensitive skin at Jack's nape, enjoying his scent. It had all in all been a week since they'd last been this close and Norrington found himself delirious with the feeling.

Jack remained stiff in his arms, though, and James knew they would need to have a long, no doubt tiring talk before the air was cleared between them. Norrington reluctantly let go when one dark hand tapped gently on his arms and went to step back, but Sparrow whirled around and grabbed his retreating wrist, tugging him to stay close. Black eyes met green and they kind of ... just stared at each other, studying the other's expression before Jack cracked the tiniest of smiles - just a twitch of the lips, really - before tugging on his wrist again, getting up and leading them both up the stairs to the rooms. James followed like a trained dog on a leash, sticking as close as he dared, not sparing a glance at anyone or thing behind them.

Barbossa, a little more sober, raised a toast to the woman that appeared at his table the second the two lovers were out of sight. She dipped her head at him in appreciation, a wry grin showing her sharper than human teeth. "Thankee, Barbossa. Yer help be much appr'ciated. Witty Jack be fine, soon."

"'Twas a strange sort o' pleasure, m' lady. Although I'd 'ppreciate 't if ya spoke t' th' brat an' ask 'im t' stop glarin' at me. Makin' me headache worse than it need be at th' moment."

Calypso laughed ruthlessly, having no mercy on his hangover, highly amused. Barbossa groaned when Jack the monkey joined in with his tittering. _'Bloody traitor.'_

"See, Will? No ill intent at all." Elizabeth told her pouting husband with pointed smugness in her tone, mock comfortingly patting his upper arm. The pout turned into a glare at the amusement he detected in her voice.

"... I was still right. He _was_ plotting against Jack."

"I'm pretty sure he had been roped into it by Calypso. You know how she can be."

"Are you his lawyer or something? Why do you keep defending him!?"

"Jealous?" Teased the former Governor's daughter. The blacksmith turned pirate pouted worse than when Jack realized the rum was gone. Elizabeth Swann-Turner laughed heartily and waved Bootstrap over, cooing over young Matthew when he followed, also pouting. He had wanted to speak with Captain Jack Sparrow immediately!

A few tables away, Annamaria was shaking her head between her new best friend and her lover of two years, both who had been roused when Norrington had barged into the tavern with so much noise. "Took 'im long 'nough ta get 'ere! Was beginnin' ta worry he ain't a sailor worth 'is salt."

"I can assure you, Anna my love, that James is a fine sailor." Andrew said as he lifted his head again from the table, only to suddenly lurch and have to run out of the tavern to indulge in the oldest of drinking traditions - vomiting up last Tuesday's lunch. Andrew was just still gentleman enough to not do it inside the settlement that had provided him with the drink, despite the two years spent in a pirate crew.

Theodor was very careful not to give in to the urge to shake his head at his friend. He had drank some rum himself last night and while better than Gillete at holding his drink, he wasn't about to risk following his friend's footsteps by making any too sudden movements. "Well, at least things will go back to being normal. Hopefully."

"They better." The dark skinned woman said threateningly, a glower in her voice. She had grown very fond of her Captain even before he stole her boat, before she crewed on his ship for two months until he found her a suitable replacement for the promised Interceptor and the two last years she'd crewed on his ship again. She had been ready to castrate Norrington with that first fight. Andrew had to actively hold her back as though she were a burly prisoner trying to escape for that last one. Norrington better make things right, or else ...

"I'm sure James won't muck it up." Theodor offered again, knowing her well enough to read between the lines of what she'd just said. He pitied James but he had brought this upon himself. And better Annamaria than Captain Teague. God forbid it being Captain Teague. The man was obsessively overprotective of Jack. Must be from how close they were as master and apprentice. Treated Jack almost as though he were his son. If James were here to hear Theodor's thoughts, he'd probably snort like he always does when someone brings it up. He never explains why but Jack always pouts at him if he's there to witness it, earning a smirk in return.

"He better not." Was Annamaria's only reply as a queasy Andrew returned into the tavern, glaring at Mr Cotton's gawking parrot that sounded like it was laughing at him.

It seemed like a perfectly normal morning for the crew of the Black Pearl.

00000

Jack arched an eyebrow from where he was sitting behind a shabby desk in one of the better rooms of their chosen tavern, watching in great amused bemusement as James L. Norrington, former Commodore, pirate hunter and Admiral fidgeted before said desk like a guilty student in front of his professor in one of those fancy schools whose names Jack kept conveniently forgetting. They'd been in here for over five minutes already and James seemed torn between not taking his eyes off of him and not being able to meet his eyes. It would have been adorable in any other situation than the one they were in right now. Now, it was boarding on highly annoying and Jack found he didn't have much patience this day. Not for this.

If James wanted to end it, he better bloody come out and say it. If he wanted them to make up, he can at least _hint_ at that! And Jack, while willing to apologize for accidentally killing such an important friend, was not going to let go of the fact that James had fucked a whore right in front of him and half of Tortuga without a proper apology. He'd already forgiven him the cruel and harsh words. Jack would not have been half as nice if something like that were to happen to him. Jack knew how to be cruel when he wanted or needed to be. He would not have survived as a pirate if he didn't know which buttons to press.

As if sensing that Jack's mood was dropping, James finally cleared his throat. Jack arched his other brow to show he was listening and waited. Thankfully, he needn't wait long. James started to speak as soon as he saw he had his lover's attention.

"I ... I wish to apologize ... for the unsightly way I've treated you for the past few days. You didn't deserve that. You never deserved that. I acted in the most unspeakable, unacceptable manner and I know I shouldn't be forgiven, but I am ready to beg it." James got out in as clear and understandable rush as he could, taking a deep sigh to continue but Jack stopped him.

"That's all nice, luv, but a bit form'l, ain't it?" Sparrow challenged with a narrowing of his eyes. He didn't want a weak apology like that. Formality was never something he was overly fond of despite being trained for quite a few years of his life to accept and follow it as the Keeper's heir. His Da liked to be right and proper where the Code was concerned and he'd taught Jack to be just that from an early age for when the need arises. Jack never quite got over his distaste for it, though, and he despised it coming from James. It made his apology impersonal and cold. Jack longed for warmth.

James squared his shoulders and met the black eyes evenly, wanting more than anything to return the missing twinkle into them. He had taken it away and he hated himself for it. "I'm sorry for how I treated you and the things I've said. It was more than wrong and I can't apologize enough. You trusted me and I betrayed you. Whatever has happened in the last few days ... It's none of your fault, Jack. Even Nevil. I'm ... I can't tell you how glad I am that you're alright. I shouldn't have blown up at you like I did - repeatedly - and I shouldn't have allowed that whore to kiss me-"

"Ye kissed a whore?" Jack interrupted and James, thinking him angry, tried stuttering out an apology when Jack all but materialized beside him like Calypso does, hands fluttering over his face in soothing gestures. "Poor love. Learned the hard way, eh? Ya don't go kissin' whores, Jamie. Must of been awful, tastin' opium like that."

Norrington blinked, flushing under Jack's fretting. He didn't pull away from the dark and dirty hands, enjoying the touch and trying his best not to notice how his heart had stuttered at his nickname that he usually so detested. It had never sounded so sweet before. But he couldn't let Jack just forgive him, just like that. His own conscience was mutinying against it. "I'm fine. And that's not important now, Jack. Please just listen to me-"

"Not important! James, opium can kill a man! Especially the fast acting stuff whores use to get customers! Do you have any idea how that could have ended for you!?" James was not expecting to suddenly face a very furious pirate. Furious and desperate, standing on the tip of his toes, hands on either side of his face, forehead pressed to his. "I'd rather not have you and know you're somewhere out there, alive and well, than have you dead in some Tortuga ditch."

"I'm _fine_ , Jack." Norrington reassured, taking hold of both wrists and pressing a kiss to one palm, then the other. Really, if you ask him, Jack might be a little too paranoid. James didn't want to know why he was regarding this topic, though. He might not be able to sleep at night anymore if he knew. "The whores seem fine. Surely it can't be _that_ bad." At Jack's shifty look, a chill overcame him. "Can it?"

"Better not go to Singapore if you don't want to find out, love. Or Rome. Or Istanbul. Or-"

"Please stop before I decide we need to hide in Shipwreck Cove for the rest of our lives." The pale as a sheet ex Navy officer asked and Jack chuckled, the last of the remaining tension seemed to seep away from the both of them. James just enjoyed the quiet moment when it came, running the pad of his thumb over tanned wrists, mesmerized how much darker the skin was in comparison to his own despite being constantly out in the sun for the past two years. "Jack, seriously, I'm so-"

A calloused finger stopped him from continuing, black eyes looking into his with warmth. "I understand, Jamie. I'm sorry, too. For accidentally killing your friend, even if it was in self defense."

The taller man shook his head, dislodging the finger so he can speak freely. "I could not have well expected you to just stand there and get stabbed. It was foolish of me to imply otherwise. Besides, he wasn't much of a friend if he couldn't accept me for what I am, at any point in my life. Andrew and Theodor knew me for much shorter a time period and yet they've not only accepted me turning to piracy, but they _followed_. Like Gibbs and Bootstrap followed you. That's a true friend. I guess I kind of idolized Nevil."

Sparrow somehow didn't seem convinced. "Still, some of the things - nay, _most_ of the things you said were true, mate. I really did ruin your life. You had it good until I came along. Commodore, about to merry a pretty Governor's daughter, possibly looking forwards to Admiralty and a very successful career ... I ruined all that the day we met, Jamie. You really _would_ have been better off not having met me. A lot less chaos in your life, mate."

"If I wanted a peaceful life, I certainly wouldn't have striven to join the Navy and hunt pirates in exotic parts of the world, Jack." The younger man reminded in a flat voice. "And I certainly wouldn't have betrayed my country by saving you from Beckett and the noose. Nor would I have come to love you, no matter how insane the notion is."

Jack Sparrow, Captain of the Black Pearl, Pirate Lord of the Caribbean, Pirate King of the Brethren Court, favorite of Calypso, the best pirate anyone has ever seen, fighter of cursed pirates, monsters, ghosts, curses and god only knows what else, turned beet read as he choked on his own breath and spluttered like a school boy. "W-what!?"

James just looked at him in confusion, not understanding all the fuss, before it registered just what he had said and his own face turned as red as Jack's, maybe worse so since he was paler. But he didn't take it back or try to deny it or make excuses. Instead, he let go of Jack's wrists and instead slipped them around a trim waist, pulling the older man up against him, a gentle smile on his still flushed face. If at all possible, Jack's blush became brighter, almost glowing. "Do you doubt me?"

"I ... " Jack was uncomfortable, in more ways than one. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this embarrassed or excited or practically thrumming with anticipation for something other than lustful touches. And he was aroused, on top of that. And blushing. God forbid anyone see him blushing like a bride on her wedding night, his reputation would be in tatters, _ruined_! It didn't help that he'd come to a similar conclusion to this on his end, too, or that he'd just talked about all of this with Barbossa yesterday.

He thought his face was going to melt off when James nuzzled his cheek. It wasn't bloody fair, what Norrignton was doing to him. Jack felt like melting in the spot. ''Please don't doubt me.'' Jack choked on his own tongue as he tried to form words and when none came fort from his usually silver tongue, he decided to use his mouth for a far better job. Judging by James' moan, he approved. When they pulled apart infinite minutes later, both were panting and painfully aroused, James gently backing Jack onto the desk he'd been occupying, hands busy ridding the pirates of his clothing garments. In turn, Sparrow was too preoccupied with the removal of the clothes covering his taller lover's body. Almost enough so that he nearly missed James' next oath, an oath he'd more gladly keep than any he had given to the navy. ''I'll never hurt you again.''

Jack smiled warily, though James didn't see it, having attached himself like a leech to the older pirate's neck. Jack wasn't going to say anything about it, but his lover _will_ probably, _almost_ without a doubt, actually, hurt him again one day. Because he now held that power. He held that power to hurt Jack Sparrow because said Captain had given him his heart. Jack will probably never outright say it - he knows himself too well to even entertain the thought that he'd actually do it one day, but not because he doesn't want to. He just doesn't dare.

Because he'd been betrayed, more than once, by crew and mates and friends and lovers. He'd given out his heart again and again and they had all taken advantage of it, leaving him with nothing, to pick up whatever pieces were left of his once big, welcoming heart. And it's a well known fact he forgives far too easily. Barbossa and Beckett may very well be the only exceptions that he'd never forgiven, not fully at least, in Hector's case. That's why his old crew and his Da were so damn protective of him. They knew he'd leave himself open and vulnerable to new hurts again and they kind of just want to intimidate as many of those who'd use him _not_ to use him for fear of a gruesome death. His Grandmama took on a full other approach that seemed to work for her fine. He'd rather not think about it when he was pressed up against James like this. Might kill the mood.

So while James had his heart, he'll never hear it given from Jack's mouth. Jack hoped James would understand even without words.

Given how he was looking down at him now, he really just might, too.

00000

''SHH!'' Calypso hissed pissily at Pintel and Ragetti as the two idiots started another one of their pointless arguments, the sea goddess pushing them away from the door and the crouching group camping right outside of it, ears pressed to the wood or the wall, using all manner of bottles, glasses and who knows what else in hopes to amplify the sound coming from within. A loud gasp had Gibbs flinching away like he'd been burned, his face joining Groves' and Gillet's in their cherry red color. Will looked ready to barf up his breakfast while Bill and Barbossa were frowning when the moans kicked in. The Wench's crew didn't seem to know what to think of the situation and just stood there awkwardly, not too comfortable with their young Captain enjoying what should be a private, intimate act with a secret audience. Jack the monkey and Mr Cotton's parrot both screeched with every new sound that came out of the room, making Cotton join in the blushing club. The rest of the Pearl's crew were wolf whistling and cat calling quietly, so as not to be heard, lecherous grins on their faces.

But no one was as delighted by this turn of events than Elizabeth and Calypso, their hands clasped together and all but bouncing on the soles of their feet. The men all looked at them warily and kind of shuffled as far away from them as their current positions allowed. They paused only long enough to glare at them if they made too much noise that might alert the couple inside that they were there and stop their activities.

"Well, at least they've made up?" Groves offered uncertainly, still glowing red. The others snorted or nodded.

"If buggering each other is making up, then yes. They've made up." One of the younger crew members that had stayed with the Pearl after the Battle of Calypso's Maelstrom commented with a lecherous, sly grin.

"What does buggering mean?" They all whipped around with a yelp, staring wide eyed at the forgotten about Matthew, who was frowning in confusion. He was looking at the door leading to the couple's room in a peculiar way and he was glancing weirdly at the eavesdroppers, too. They all exchanged looks, making panicking motions to indicate it will _not be them_ who has the birds and the bees talk with the boy when all noise in the room stopped. They all whipped around again to look at the unimpressed face of Jack Sparrow, dressed only in Norrington's tattered old Navy coat - the first garment of clothing at hand long enough to cover all that should be covered.

They gulped.

Their Captain arched an eyebrow.

Nervous smiles. "Uh, we can explain?"

A half dressed James was glaring at them from over his lover's shoulder.

Matthew's eyes had widened in delight and awe.

"Captain Sparrow!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

"And so that's how I met up with Commodore Norrington and Mr Bootstrap. Then we found a boat and set sail to go after you. Had a couple of days of bad sailing and then one _awesome_ day. It was like we were _flying_!" Young Matthew Simmons was finishing his story, all bit bouncing in excitement in his seat as he ate with Jack and his 'officers'. James was a little off to the side, catching up with Theodor and Andrew about all that had happened and William seemed thrilled to see him reaching for a nearby belt and making what looked roughly like a collar ... or a noose while glaring at the older Pirate Lord.

Jack's face was once again locked in a mask, much to everyone's disdain, but at least this time it wasn't because someone had fucked up. This time it was because of what this Prince George or Henry or whatever his name was was doing, the reason why he was killing all those people. Needless to say, they were all very furious about it but Jack must have been feeling guilty as well, as he was the cause of their suffering even though he had not done anything to be labeled as such. Only been the object of Beckett's sick obsession and now another man was continuing where the midget Lord had left off. As if Beckett hadn't been enough, this Henry was a Prince! Meant more power and more men and influence over said men and their lives.

Everyone edged a little away from both raging sea goddess and Pirate King. Barbossa even shielded Jack the monkey with his coat since Sparrow seemed just _itching_ to shoot something.

Instead, Jack just sighed, rubbing the heels of his palms over his eyes tiredly. "Why are you even out here, lad? Shouldn't you be home with your family?"

Matthew blinked for a few seconds at the lack of the usual slur to the Captain's words - the crew had gotten used to it by now, Jack slipping his act of foolish pirate more often these days and showing them just how educated he actually was - before it registered what the man had said and he drooped a little. "My family is dead, sir. Beckett hanged my parents and that bastard my sister, just a few days ago, sir."

Jack winced while Bill patted Matthew on the head comfortingly. The boy ducked under the hand and went around the table so he was standing right in front of Sparrow, who saw his set face and hard jaw, a look in his eye that Jack knew all too well and fairly hated. "Then why are you here, boy, instead of giving tribute to your sister? Isn't there like a mourning period or something?"

"I had to run away, Captain. To find you and warn you of what was going on. And there's nothing left for me in Port Royal or any other English port." At jack's intrigued eyebrow rise, the boy elaborated. "I attacked and threatened the Prince, sir. And I plan to, again, if I get the opportunity. And I know I will if I join your crew."

"I'm not making it a sport or habit to employ revenge-seeking lads, boy." The Captain of the Black Pearl told him seriously. "Bad for business, bad for my health. Nearly died a dozen times. Actually _died_ once. I have no intention of repeating the experience, even if Davy Jones won't send me back to the Locker."

"I wouldn't do anything to endanger anyone, sir!" Matthew insisted stubbornly. He took out a knife no one had known he had on him from somewhere within his oversized coat and presented the small blade to Jack, hilt first. "Yes, I want the opportunity to kill that bastard for what he'd done to my sister, but I want to do it with this knife. My father's." He met black eyes stubbornly, conviction and truth shining in them as he thrust the dagger into Jack's larger, darker hand. "I won't do anything without your permission, Captain. Your word is the law."

Jack took the offered weapon, a thoughtful gaze falling to the pistol at his belt. The same pistol that had once housed a single shot for ten years. Ten long years of survival and hunting for his Pearl and being hunted in return by various Navies. He knew the feeling of wanting to take revenge with a certain, specific weapon. He knew the knife probably won't be used for anything else. Matthew, as an avenger and a person, could not have sworn him a more binding oath. Jack had not shot anyone in ten years. Matthew won't do anything unless Jack allows it as long as he held this knife. He looked back up at the boy. He seemed _desperate_ to join his crew and Jack knew it probably had to do with some sort of hero worship. Probably completely undeserved on Jack's part but he wasn't going to say that to the lad's face. He'd be loyal, there was no doubt about that. He'd snook up on a privateer ship and sailed to Tortuga, risking his life, trusting strangers to take care of him and lead him to Jack just because he wanted to serve aboard the Black Pearl.

Jack pocketed the knife into one of his numberless, endless pockets inside his coat and extended a hand for young Mr Simmons to shake. "Welcome aboard, Mattie. I should warn you that you're going to stick to the Code more strictly than you've ever stuck to the Law or Bible and you're going to do it without complaint. Everyone earns their keep and you will be no different. Starting as cabin boy."

Matthew beamed and leaped at the Captain, tackling him around the neck and thanking him over and over again, ignoring Jack's yelp and attempts at dislodging him. The crew laughed their asses off and Jack promised himself he'll get his revenge, one way or the other, as soon as they set sail. For now, he endured it until a chuckling James pulled Matthew off of him and the pirate sighed in relief. He was still a bit soar and the tackle had not helped things any.

"Thank you, Captain Sparrow. I promise not to disappoint you, sir!" Matthew made some strange attempt at mimicking a Navy salute, which only had the table descending into a laughing fit even more, the three former marines flushing in embarrassment. Matthew was too busy beaming at Jack to notice. Then a frown stole over his face. "Um ... What _is_ a cabin boy? No one I've ever asked could quite define a cabin boy and his duties."

The laughter stopped and they all gave each other thoughtful looks. In truth, none of them had ever sailed on a ship with a cabin boy. Well, the Wicked Wench's crew had but ... They turned to look at Jack pointedly, the Pearl's crew following with confusion as Sparrow sent dirty glares at the old, grinning sailors. "The Cap can teach ya, lad!" One of the pirates said and his mates cheered an agreement.

"Mutiny!"

"You can?" Matthew, Elizabeth, Will, James, Theodor, Barbossa and Gillete all asked what was on everyone's mind, obviously expecting some strange story. Matthew in particular also wanted to know if he'll be the apprentice of _Captain Jack Sparrow_ , apparently _Pirate King_ and just what sort of adventures that will lead him on.

"Sure he can." Marcus pipped in before Jack could open his mouth, glaring at his once first mate. Calypso was just grinning from across the table at Jack, her rage currently forgotten. For the moment. "Was Captain Morgan's cabin boy on the Wench. Became Captain only after the whole Salazar deal."

"I should have let the lot of you drown."

"That's ... quite the promotion." Norrington commented with amusement, but Jack ignored him, too busy plotting his petty revenge. He'll show them. "Spurt of the moment?"

"Might have been, although good old Morgan adored Jackie. Good navigator, with or without that Compass of his." Another of the Wench's crew added.

"And as crazy as a mad hatter!"

"Sailed us once right into the heart of a hurricane, he did. Swear I never looked at a ship the same way. Or a cabin boy."

"Could be all that pirate blood."

"I even started believin' th' rumors 'bout him making a deal with ol' Neptune."

"Mermaids, more likely." Bill added with a grin, snapping Jack's attention back to the conversation with a fierce glare in his black eyes. Bill tried to hold onto his grin. The Captain looked truly pissed off by his comment.

"Who'd you talked to about Lucia for you to be bringing her sort up?" The table was busy looking from one old friend to the other, uneasy at the seriousness of Jack's words and the glare on his face.

"No one, Captain. Just used the general story to scare off some fishermen in order to get their boat." The older Turner said carefully. Almost formally. James arched an eyebrow. He had been under the impression that the story was a casual one, not of that great importance. Certainly not enough to have Jack pissed with Bill. "Really, Jack. As though I'd go into detail."

"How did it come to the story in the first place?" The suspicious pirate asked in a dangerously low voice. There was some more shifting among the group, although they were watching and listening avidly.

"I hope ye didn' go an' tell stupid humans wher' ta find Princess Lucia and 'er mermaids." Calypso said deceptively mildly, her eyes flashing. Bill raised his arms up defensively in surrender faster than a gunshot.

"I never mentioned any places, numbers or names. And, like I said, it was to scare off the fishermen and entertain young Matthew here."

"He said the Black Pearl was once a mermaid!" Bill cringed when Matthew _helpfully_ added with a beam and awe in his eyes. The older Turner gulped when he looked back at the furious black eyes of his Captain.

"Biiill."

"Parley?"

00000

"A ship with black sails has been spotted leaving Tortuga a week ago, sir. They've been here for a day and night stay before Sparrow ordered a swift departure. They left on the morning tide and disappeared from the horizon in less than an hour." A red coated marine reported dutifully in the great cabin of a big galleon that dwarfed even the Dauntless and the Endeavor before her, sails as white as the clods, hull a dark brown with black, gold and white details. On the aft of the ship, the name Independence was written in the same gold color on a white background, making the name stand out on the dark hull. It was a mighty ship, a 42 gunner with over a hundred and fifty men needed to properly sail her. She sailed under the proud English flag and she was the current flagship of the Royal Navy with Admiral Norrington and Prince George Henry VII as the leaders of this little chase. Captain Tristan Mourney, privateer and former pirate, was sailing on his own ship, following the Independence but he was currently in her great cabin to hear the report. "They were reported heading west, sir."

"And my ... son?" Admiral Lawrence Norrington did his best not to grimace as he referred to the man he had sired and raised, who had repaid him by tarnishing their family name, reputation and honor (and pride; don't forget the pride) by becoming a pirate. And under Jack Sparrow no less! The man was basically a _symbol_ for the damned way of life of a buccaneer. Norrington wished nothing more than to erase all connection he might have with James, but blood, unfortunately, could not be forgotten. He instead had to set it right by making sure James faces justice of the law. By his own hand. That man was no longer his son but an outlaw and Lawrence felt no remorse for the fate that awaited him once he was caught.

"He had stayed longer, leaving that afternoon with a boy and an older pirate, sir. They left on a fishing boat. No weapons. Fast. They were said to be heading west, too." The marine answered and Prince Henry hummed in thought.

"West ... Shipwreck Cove is west of Port Royal, if my calculations are right." The young man opened Beckett's journal and rifted through it until finding the right page. "Ah, yes. West-south-west, to be precise. West from Tortuga, no doubt. Not too long a sail from here."

"Just how much did Beckett know about us?" Mourney asked with a grimace. No longer a pirate, true, but he had once been and he had guarded the same secrets about the Court and the song and the Code. He felt uncomfortable knowing a potential enemy knew so much about the most important system in the 'pirate society'.

"Like I've told that clever boy - Matthew was it? - Cutler had learned everything he could about all of this. Davy Jones was a great source of information for many things, but he was completely clueless as to others so Cutler started interrogating pirates in order to learn things. Those who wished to save their lives told him as much as they knew. The information started accumulating real soon after that. Now, however," Henry sighed in disappointment. "The pirates are not so willing to say anything. They just sing the song, even if the only thing I ask them is where Jack Sparrow might be." He frowned, looking down at the book in his hands. "Cutler had remarked how easily pirates gave up Sparrow in the past, how many enemies he has. Where are those same enemies now?"

"Must be the Pirate King's doing." Tristan shrugged, looking out of the porthole. "Must be a real scary, influential fellow. Put the fear of the Code into the lot of them."

"I am sure my sources have informed me right when they said Captain Teague had given up his place in the Brethren Court some years ago." Norrington threw in with a frown. That man never seemed to leave his life. Years, he had searched for him. Years, he had spent chasing him. And he had never held him in custody longer than a couple of hours at most. For years he had invaded the Admiral's dreams and Norrington hated him all the more for it that not even in his dreams could he capture and hang him. The man always escaped. Sparrow seemed to have gotten the same skill, luck or fate or whatever you wanted to call it. Both have faced the noose before, more than once, and both Edward and Jack have escaped it every time.

Lawrence will shoot anyone who even _suggests_ that it is so easy for them to escape because it was a Norrington both times that had chased them.

"Maybe he got himself _reinstated_ , like _some_ people." The pirate of the three said snidely and exchanged a long glare with the old Admiral.

"Bark all you want, _pirate_. One day you'll muck up and I'll personally place the noose around your neck."

" _Gentlemen_ ," the Prince drawled from where he was once again reading something in his book. "Please do act your age, good sirs. You are making fools of yourselves." The two men scowled at being admonished by the younger man but held their tongues. He was the Prince and essentially held their lives in the palm of his manicured hand. "Now, I say we wrap things up here and head for these coordinates Cutler was kind enough to leave for me."

The Prince perkily got up, humming under his breath as he put on his coat and left the great cabin, Norrington and Mourney glaring at each other before following, the marine all too haply and relieved to leave the two men's presence as it was so tense that you could shoot it with a gun. Once outside, Henry paid no heed to the screams of pain, fright and dying nor did he flinch at the sounds of cannon and gun fire or metal hitting metal. When walking by the railing of the ship, he wasn't distracted by the red color of the sea or the amount of bodies floating on the surface.

He made a straight line to the helm and showed the pilot the coordinates while Tortuga burned behind his back.


	13. Chapter 13

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

By the time the Black Pearl and Barbossa's ship made port in Shipwreck Cove - the Pearl all but hauling the other ship while Marcus helped Barbossa guide her around the spikes - the news of Tortuga had well reached and spread around the citadel, leaving the pirates in a somber mood. Almost all the Pirate Lords were just a day away with only Jacord and Sao Feng being the currently present Pirate Lords in the Cove and Mistress Chin making the Crossing as they docked. Hearing what had happened to their favorite port had all the pirates out for blood and ready to proclaim another act of war, so the sight of the black sails characteristic to only their King's ship had them roaring a cheer of greeting that was nothing like the ones that had greeted him before.

Captain Edward Teague himself was personally awaiting Jack's arrival when the Pearl was safely tied to her place in the section reserved only for Pirate Lords, the Keeper of the Code and the Pirate King. One look at the Keeper's face had Jack down and off the deck in seconds, the two most influential men gone from sight in seconds, the keeper's men trailing after them like shadows.

Left without their Captain, the Pearl's crew were commanded by Gibbs, Annamaria, Marcus and Norrington while Barbossa threw in a few suggestions from where he was tying up his own ship, checking her for damage that needed to be repaired and assigning a watch schedule. Both crews worked quickly and efficiently and soon both ships were in shipshape. As soon as they were not needed, the men were let free to do as they wish until they are to be called upon. James, unerringly, headed straight for the Teague household.

It was a grand structure within the citadel, well hidden from prying eyes and rare few were even aware it existed, having been built within a hollowed out giant rock spike. The last time they were in the Cove, Grandmama Teague had insisted James be dragged along into the family home of Jack's family so he can be introduced to everyone properly and James had had the honor of realizing just _how_ _much_ like royalty the Teague family was among pirates. He had also seen just how much of a black sheep his lover was in the family, too. For all that he was in truth the most famous and infamous of them all - both well deserved - Jack was nothing like his relatives. He's only similar to them in his education and love for the shine. Everything else was almost completely different. They cared little for the loss of human life while Jack tried to avoid it, often having been labeled a coward for his tendencies when he was younger, before he got famous for sacking Nassau without firing a shoot, no blood spilled. And only Jack's paternal uncle, Uncle Jack Teague, his father and his Grandmama were as witty and adventurous as Jack but no where near as savvy. Or lucky.

It had been amusing to see Jack's cousin Valerie - always favored and called a pirate prodigy, thought more worthy of being the Keeper's heir than her younger cousin - grudgingly admit that Jack did good when he became Pirate King and practically a good among pirates for dealing not only with Beckett and Jones, but also Salazar and making an ally out of Calypso. James had watched with something akin to borrowed pride as Jack subtly dealt her down the way she and anyone else who had ever doubted Jack Sparrow should be. He wasn't sure though if he had matched Captain Teague's level of pride.

The dynamics within Jack's family were really, really strange, dysfunctional and yet they all deeply cared for each other. Jack's aunt McFlaming and Grandmama were something akin to rivals and Grandmama was the matriarch of the family, although Edward was the one who led it as family head now, as he had ever since he had come of age. Grandmama was probably a hundred or so years old but she was holding up amazingly well, although she couldn't really keep up with Sparrow now, when she tried to give him a piece of her mind every time she was reminded of her 'near death of a broken heart' from when Jack had ran away. Uncle Jack was that awesome uncle James had heard every bigger family had, the one who bought sweets and told cool stories, only it was rum in the Teagues' case. Valerie was that favored eldest child, thought to be the best in everything she did, who was used to looking down at her younger cousin, only to end up surprised when he tops her. Though she really was an amazing sailor and a bloodthirsty pirate like the rest of Jack's family. They were all pirates but James preferred Jack's kind - you know, shooting an immortal, undead monkey? Yeah, that one.

But they were an interesting bunch and had welcomed James with surprisingly wide opened arms, especially what with knowing that he was the son of the man that had hunted their 'clan/family head' for half of his life, if not longer. And they had some really, _really_ strange traditions. Even Jack had been weirded out when his father had handed him the shrunken head of his mother, saying it was his turn to carry her around for a while. James hadn't been sure how he had reacted when Jack had actually taken the head and kept it on his person at all times for a year. He had been very creped out at first and refused to do anything with his lover while said lover's deceased mother's shrunken head was tied to those slim hips that were taunting him for weeks. Jack hadn't been impressed with his decision and had done his best to drive him mad with want before he finally gave in after the first raid after the Battle of Calypso's Maelstrom, pushing Jack against the yardarm as soon as they were out of range of the EITC merchant ship.

That's when that whole stupid bet started, since James had snapped back to his senses as soon as the cheers and leering started. Sparrow had laughed it off as he was slung over a shoulder and carried and the barricaded inside his own cabin to be ravished for the next few hours. Thankfully, the sleeping quarters are a little separate from the rest of the cabin so the crew couldn't do what they'd been doing on Isla de Pequeña Tita. Although James _was_ sure Ragetti and Pintel had tried finding a hole in the boards below deck to spy or eavesdrop from beneath, but the Black Pearl _was_ Jack's first and truest love - Norrington did his best not to become jealous every time he thought about it - so the ship was always in an impeccable state and there were no holes.

James was sure that the only thing stopping them from _making_ a hole or two was the concupiscences that were bound to follow and not be pretty at all. After all, there was very few things in this world that could make Jack truly pissed off and messing with his Pearl was at the very top of that list. It was better for everyone involved that no one pisses him off. Because a pissed off Sparrow was an upset Sparrow. And an upset Sparrow was news that were bound to reach Shipwreck Cove. The ex Admiral shuddered just thinking what the overprotective Teague would do to anyone who truly upsets his son.

He shuddered even more when he pondered what could have happened should he not have managed to speak with Jack before he arrived to Shipwreck Cove.

James nodded to the guards standing in front of the entrance into the secret Teague home, marveling like he had the last time he was here at the manner in which the place was furnished. It really did look like a palace meant for royalty to live in it. Precious goods from all over the world were tastily - most of the time - draped luxuriously around what was essentially a modified cavern. Persian rugs covered certain 'rooms', Turkish silk pillows right out of a harem haphazardly piled up as seating arrangements in what could have been the library, mahogany bookcase with all sorts of different books, scrolls, parchment texts, maps and strange instruments used in all fields of science littering the shelves. It didn't match the sheer number of books the Shipwreck Cove's Library had, but it matched it in variety. Another room was tilled with wooden planks of some expensive Madagascar wood as floorboards, a big ivory table and chairs dressed in satin making up the dinning room, a case of Chinese ceramic pottery and plates adorning one wall, the other holding amazingly detailed and well done portraits of each family member. There were a few older looking ones that Jack had never been able to tell him exactly who they were - one was his grandfather and great grandfather, judging from family resemblance to himself and Teague, and they even shared the last name; Jack had been a bit shifty when looking at what must have been his great grandfather, as though he were trying to see something that was not there and unwilling to tell James just what it was.

Other paintings that adorned the walls of the residence were of that of the family's ships and Jack's Black Pearl and Teague's Misty Lady were indeed the most eye catching. Beneath the Pearl, there was another ship of striking resemblance, or rather the very same ship as it had been before - the Wicked Wench. James, sailor through and through, had seen and understood _why_ his lover had fallen in love at first sight. She had been magnificent, all gold lining, chestnut brown hull and magnificent cloud-white sails. Both paintings had been done with fine care and impeccable, amazing amount of detail. James only later learned that each of the Teagues paints their own ship and the loving brushes made sense. No one else could have so perfectly captured the spirit of freedom blowing in the white or black sails as Jack would. He was much too in love with her - then and now, never faltering - for him to mess up her 'portrait'.

Still, learning that some of the most fearsome pirates in the world were so well educated had been a surprise, especially learning that Jack and his father could both play the guitar and any similar instrument to it _and_ the _piano_. Some of the others from their family could play this instrument or that, like the harmonica or the flute or something else, but no one else could play those two. Although they also possessed a great variety of finely made instruments in their 'music room', chosen for its amazing acoustics.

There was a meeting room reserved only for business, and it wasn't really all that lavish in comparison to the rest of the home, only having a few Lord-like chairs and a mahogany desk, no doubt stolen from some poor ship at some point, with a few fine details here and there: what Jack called a Buddha statue made of pure gold, some scrolls from Japan - James had been fascinated by the strange symbols and Jack had surprised him further by offering to teach him Japanese and Chinese both, if he was interested - medieval swords with a varying amount of gold detail and jewels, a globe bigger than the one in the Court meeting room, a map of the surrounding waters around Shipwreck Island and a big, heavy, chained and locked metal door with well protected hinges. Jack had once told him that was where the Codex was usually kept until there was a need for it.

It was the most secure vault on the seven seas.

And it belong to pirates.

James had not found it as amusing as his lover did, but he did see the irony in it all. Though, honestly, Jack didn't need to laugh so much.

The most grand of all rooms was definitely the so called family room, walls draped in Egyptian silk, furniture of ivory and mahogany, decorated with Japanese plush cushions and covered with Indian silk covers. Golden framed paintings of various islands and sunsets, a giant chandelier that James was sure was of pure, finely cut crystals with enough eastern styled paper lamps illuminating the big room better than any ballroom had ever been lit during some great noble party. There were three glass cupboards with numerously different types of liquor on their shelves, all of the best quality that James had seen so far, if the labels and the years on said labels were anything to go by. There was a beautiful fireplace built in one corner of the room with a plush, bear fur rug - James didn't even bother asking who had caught what looked like one of those fabled polar bears and skinned it - a small table nearby, looking Greek made. There were even a few Greek pots and roman statues in there! There was a nice Turkey rug for the rest of the room and the doorway of the room was covered in beautiful white marble. A giant shark jaw hung from one wall, a trophy from a time long since passed, another bookshelf beside it. Valencian colorful glass windows hung over dug out holes used for ventilation, making the room look like you're watching it from the other side of the rainbow when the sunlight came through.

All in all, the household of the Teague clan was more befitting a 'true' royal family than a bunch of pirates. But seeing how successful all of them were, it made sense that they could live the life of luxury. And they were all strangely awfully modest about it, saying it was luck or something. Seeing the collection of precious stones, gold, silver, pearls, silks, cotton and god only knows what else, James had thought, incredulously, that they were all utterly mad. As though reading his thoughts, the entirety of the strange pirate family had only shrugged.

The only part of the home that James hadn't seen was the sleeping chambers, not even Jack's. He didn't doubt they were just as lavish.

"James," Valerie greeted when he walked past the library, going further into the cavern-like home, the woman looking up from a book she was reading only long enough to see him nod in greeting. "My baby cousin is with Uncle Edward now and they're discussing something very important and," she looked up again to throw him a warning glance. "Very private. Personal, you could say. Don't want no interruptions."

Norrington recognized a dismissal - and a threat - when he heard one but his eyes still narrow, his jaw clenched. He had no doubt what father and son were talking about. Not as Keeper of the Code and Pirate King, but _father_ and _son_. No doubt about _another_ father and son due and he didn't mean the pair of William Turners. "Then I'll wait."

"Why can't you just accept it that you're not wanted here right now, _Navy_?" The female pirate snapped, slamming her book shut in frustrated anger, drawing to her full hight to glare at her cousin's lover. The last word was spat out like a curse - and James admitted that it had, indeed, been just that for much of his career and life.

"I am no more _Navy_ than you are, Miss. And I'm considering myself wanted - or neutrally allowed to be here - until I am told other wise by Jack, Captain Teague or Madame Teague." Norrington replied in the same distasteful tone he'd been using with Jack before sailing with the man. It served its purpose to rail the woman up enough for her to reach for a gun, only to be stopped by amused chuckles. They both looked up to glare at Jack Teague, Edward's one year younger brother, leaning against the door frame that led to private studies hidden behind shelves, hat tipped back as he grinned at them. The resemblance between him and Captain Teague was remarkable and a little freaky, but he smiled a lot more often and always told jokes. James suspected Jack got most of his humor from him, although his charms definitely came from his father. But putting father, uncle and son together in one line made shivers run down one's spine when they realized just how similar - set fundamentally different - they are.

"I like this one. Dreadfully amusin', 'e is. Jackie better keep 'im." James felt his hackles rising at the suggestion he can be _kept_ like a _mutt_ , but the Uncle just grinned. "I meant no disr'spect, m' good man. I like ye. Good fer Jackie. Ya ground 'im a little. 'E needed that." He nodded at the stunned green eyed pirate before turning around to go back into his study. "Eddy wants ya up there, mate. Thinks ye should be part o' the talks. I suggest ya get up there as soon as possible b'fore 'e changes 'is mind and keeps Jackie all to 'imself 'ntil the gatherin'."

"Uncle!" Valerie protested, barely restraining herself from pouting like a child. "Uncle Edward said he don't want anyone interrupting!"

"An' 'e told m' to send this one up when he gets 'ere." The older pirate said as he sauntered back into his room, the shelves closing behind him, ending the argument. Valerie turned to glare at James one last time before turning her nose up at him like a spoiled Lady and going back to her book.

Despite being dismissed so rudely, James felt like this was a win.


	14. Chapter 14

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

"Commodore." Captain Edward Teague greeted when James knocked on the door of the business meeting room, poking his head in after a moment. "Good, you're here. Was beginning to wonder if anyone was giving you trouble."

"No, sir." The other replied, coming in when Jack flagged him inside with an animated be-ringed hand, a grin on his face. James walked over to stand beside his seated Captain, who rolled his eyes at him and dragged him onto the sofa next to him, leaning against his side as he scratched Doggy's ears. James had not found it the least bit strange that this common mutt had been indeed named 'Doggy', but, then again, Teague had at first not wanted to keep him and had just addressed him as 'doggy' until the dog would not respond to anything else. Jack, apparently, had grown up for some time with the mutt but they had a hot-cold kind of relationship between them. It changed with the tide and not even they knew which day they were friends and which day was best to avoid each other. His lover was so strange some times. "And I am no longer a Commodore. Haven't been for a while, now."

"Ah, yes. You've made it to Admiral before joining our side against Beckett." The older pirate said with a nod but James just shook his head with a wry grin.

"No, sir. Not Admiral, either. Not Navy at all, in fact. I do believe I am a pirate." Jack was making a strange face to his side, his eyes showing an emotion James couldn't really place but looked an awful lot like relief. He wondered what that was about but was distracted when Teague returned his wry grin.

"I'm not sure ol' Lawry will be happy with that." James felt his spine stiffen, recognizing the challenge and he hated how Jack paused mid-pet, hesitating, before continuing as though he hadn't heard them at all. James frowned, wondering what the oldest in the room was up to. Was he testing him? Challenging him for a reaction? Well, challenge accepted, Norrington mused to himself, standing straighter.

''I'm not sure I actually care, at this point.'' And he could say that with surety and no amount of regret. His father wasn't the best dad out there, certainly nothing like Teague who, for all that he was a pirate, used to plunder, death and men's lives being traded for a little bling, cherished his only son above it all as though _Jack_ was his treasure. Though, seeing how he had risked his life, men and ship just to save Jack on that day, long ago, when he had also saved James from drowning, maybe Jack was.

Teague stared at him for a long moment, face thoughtful yet showing nothing at all, while Jack was openly gawking at his lover, flabbergasted at such a flippant answer from him when he'd once been James Norrington, Commodore/Admiral and Pirate hunter extraordinaire, who had cared about his reputation and honor and oaths more than the lives of men on the Pearl when he had taken the heart from Jack's jar of dirt. Maybe Barbossa _was_ right and James only acted all Navy like because Jack had made it obvious that he had expected it from him. It had been _two years_ , damn it! How had Jack not noticed that all that had once made up Commodore James Norrington had all but died out? He was truly blind if he had not noticed sooner. No wonder they had been arguing so much. James was struggling with his pirate self trying to drown out his old Commodore self, the death of a close friend had not helped and Jack trying to put distance between them so James could cool off had probably been the tipping point and James had only been aiming to hurt him with words he knew would get a reaction. It just all kind of spiraled out of control at one point and they'd ended up in the mess they did. Thankfully, all of that was resolved now and his Da didn't need to go hunting. Jack was not happy to learn his father had heard about their squabble. Thankfully, not the whole thing, though, or else there would be nothing left of his Jamie by now.

"You'll have to fight your old man, boy." Teague warned, steeling fingers in front of his chin, elbows on the table, so far from the casual appearance both he and his son preferred to keep up until they showed their true fangs to an opponent. "We won't have time to care about your fragile sensibilities if you agree to this. You either go all the way or you don't go to this war at all."

Both father and son arched impressed eyebrows when James glared at the Keeper. "I beg your pardon, sir, but that sounds an awful lot like an insult to my character, if you believe I'd leave my lover high and dry like that before a maniac as crazy as Beckett. If you continue doing so, I might not be able to hold my tongue and I'd rather not start unnecessary fight before this war. Sir."

Jack was once again left gawking at his lover, jaw almost touching the floor. Even Doggy was shocked at James' balls to outright tell the Keeper that he was buggering his only son. Jack was sure there would be bloodshed but he can't just run off with the Pearl when he had a war he needed to lead. James stood stiff, straight and proud, fearlessly holding Teague's gaze as the old pirate stared at him. And burst out laughing, annoying one younger man and further shocking the other. Sparrow was sure his father had gone mad with bloodlust, only to be surprised further when laughter subsided into chuckles and finally just a smile. "Aye, that be true. Do forgive an old man for having to check. It's no easy task to fight one's own family. It would have been for your best interest to stay behind if you could not do it. Us pirates tend not to care if we shoot one of our own if they're having a moral debate about fighting the enemy, if you get my drift."

" _Da_ , don't _do_ that. You'll give me a bloody heart attack!" Sparrow slumped in exasperation, Doggy trotting off, having gotten bored of his younger master and going over to demand some attention - silently, of course; even the dog knew he had to respect Captain Teague - from the Keeper. His father only chuckled at him, scratching the dog between the ears.

"Don't be so over dramatic, Jackie. It had to be done." The man defended himself while James kept glaring from father to son. "Anyway, my apologies, James. It's good to have you aboard."

"Thank you," he answered warily, still trying to figure out just how he was supposed to deal with this duo. He kind of just sat there for an hour or so while the King and Keeper discussed the Code, who had not been keeping to it and who should hunt down whom. Various pirates came in about this or that, leaving only a minute or two later with a solution to his/her problem or with orders. James watched silently as a few familiar faces repeatedly came in and out - Victor, Adam, Ivan, Ian, Hugo and a few others he'd seen hanging around them - bringing news and updates and business to the two most powerful men in the seven seas. Seeing as Jack very rarely slipped into his Pirate King persona, it was always a treat to watch him act according to his true intelligence levels whenever he slipped. Now, wholly focused on the matter at hand and ignoring how he was not _Captain Jack Sparrow_ at the moment, the _true_ Jack was in full display. _Jack Edward Teague_ , to be precise. The way he dealt with the problems or solutions presented to him and his father had James thinking that he understood Beckett's obsession with Sparrow. The man would have been a true treasure - a _trump card_ \- wherever he would have been taken. He held court wherever and whenever he spoke, drawing attention to himself whether he was animatedly weaving his fingers around during some lurid tale or speaking business and giving commands to his underlings.

By the time the Keeper and the King finished their business, James was much of a mind of a completely _other_ kind of business that needed to be attended to. Immediately. Sparrow, as though having a sense for his lust, looked over at him questioningly, only to shiver when he saw how dark those green eyes had gotten. He made some halfhearted excuse to his amused father and gestured impatiently with a be-ringed hand for Norrington to follow.

It was the first time James entered the private, sleeping quarters as Jack all but dragged him towards his own room and he didn't bother wasting time to examine them now, far too busy pressing Jack up against the heavy, black wood that was the door to the Pirate King's chambers, kissing him senseless until all that that usually sharp mouth could produce were helpless mewls of want and lust.

Norrington had a hard time hold back from just taking the man, there, then, against the door that wouldn't do much to muffle their noise, but he managed. He took hold of Jack's hand, brought it up to his lips and kissed it as though he were still a gentleman at court and Jack was a lady he was asking to dance. Lust hazed black eyes looked up at him in confusion but James simply led them to the big bed he saw in the center of the room. Sitting down, he pulled Jack into his lap and tangled his fingers in those wild dreadlocks and braids, taking his sweet time to just kiss his lover, showing a lot more of his emotions than words ever could. Sparrow moaned into his throat, his own sea-life hardened hands massaging James' shoulders as he enjoyed this sedate pace that they've never indulged in much before, his lust fading to far more tender emotions. By the time a hand traveled - madly teasingly slowly, mind you - down his neck, between his shoulder blades, following the line of his spine to his rump, Jack was positively melting in the gentle grip.

He pulled back with a gasp as he was groped, leaning his sweaty forehead against an equally breathless James', wriggling in said man's lap. "You're driving me mad, love." He whispered shakily and pouted at the grin that declaration produced. He retaliated by grinding down hard, grinning at the growl that resulted from his efforts, before the world was spinning and he found himself deposited in the middle of the bed, on his back, a delicious green eyed ex Admi- _PIRATE_ leaning over him with predatory hunger. His breeches and coat were off in a blink and Jack glared at the fully clothed man above him. "This. Off." He growled, tugging at the blue coat - they'd stolen James a new one after his battered Navy one was utterly destroyed in a raid, four months after his official joining of the Black Pearl's stationary crew; Groves had turned his into a pillow while Annamaria had threatened anyone who dared even _think_ about messing with Gillete's and Jack tried very hard not to think for what sort of kinky bed play they used it lest his own interest be shot to hell - impatiently, before one hand gripped Norrington through his breeches to demonstrate a _very_ good point as to why it should be done.

James only complied after untying Jack's waist sash and taking off his shirt. Sparrow was not amused, but his lover sure was, judging by his throaty chuckles. "Patience, Captain. Or did you lose any you had left in your meeting?"

Jack outright glared at the taller man, flipping their positions with lightning speed so he was sitting on the Englishman's waist, hands pinning strong shoulders down with surprising strength. "Mention that ag'in an' I mi'ht leave ye 'ere to deal wiff this," he made his point by rolling his hips so his butt rubbed against straining breeches and James bucked under him for more friction, but Jack rode him out like a wave, giving him no relief. "All by yer onseies, savvy?"

"You wouldn't," Norrington didn't much sound so sure about his own deceleration, but Jack gave him points for trying.

"I will if ya keep bringin' such stupid thin's up in th' bedroom." He threatened, satisfied when James nodded, balking at his own stupidity for bringing such a topic up in the first place. Seriously, who wanted to think about their father when they're about to partake in wild, wild debauchery? He grimaced as his own came to mind, but Jack seems to have developed some sort of mind reading ability and he distracted him with another roll of his hips while he divested James of coat, shirt and trousers with practiced ease. It was a relief when skin finally touched skin and James dragged Jack down in for a kiss while the older man fumbled with something in his hands. James growled with a jerk of his hips when a heated hand coated a cool liquid onto his hard price, the other hand busy with Jack's entrance as he wiggled in pleasure every time he managed to brush against his own pleasure spot. Sparrow yelped loudly when James pushed his own fingers in beside Jack's, far more easily reaching that one place that turned Jack into a mewling, helpless mess with just a few strokes. "Jamie," the breathless man practically begged and his lover answered to his call immediately, pulling back both their hands and helping Jack slid down onto his rigid cock.

He ran his fingers over the tattoos visible to him while Jack reacted, still mystified as to their meaning, as he knew they must have one no matter how much Jack tried to convince him otherwise. Every bead in Jack's hair was as much a memory as the black pearl given to him by Salazar, two years back.

He had learned about the significance of the beads and trinkets in Jack's hair only after Jack had caught him playing with a dice in his hair one morning, commenting how he still remembered the day Bootstrap had woven it in there for him before falling back asleep for the next two hours or so. James had later asked Bill about it and Turner had told him - and his ever inquisitive and curious daughter in law and merely interested in getting to know his friend better son - a grand tale about this one time Jack had been sent further inland by the law, ending up in some town in the Arizona desert by the name of Tombstone, where he had escaped the law enforcers, gambled with dice enough to run the town bankrupt and was sentenced to hang at dawn - the noose seemed to follow Jack Sparrow everywhere he went, Bill had joked in black humor - only for Bootstrap to end up delaying his hanging by destroying the gallows once he finally caught up to him thanks to some merchants. Thankfully, one of the local natives, Ata'halne - which supposedly meant He interrupts, very appropriately, Jack believed - kidnapped them out of jail and helped them travel back towards the sea. And while they had traveled with him, Ata'halne called Jack Ahote Kele, meaning restless sparrow, while Bill was renamed Hinto Dakota, which means blue friend or ally, so no one would question them overly so. They traveled for a couple of weeks until they finally made it back to port, where the Black Pearl was still waiting for them. Unfortunately, Ata'halne would not sail away with them and had returned to his people.

Three weeks later, in another port, a woman by the name of Kai had found them in another port not so far away, giving Jack the very lucky dice with which he had won all that money in Tombstone, saying it had been Ata'halne last wish to get this to a certain 'Ahote Kele' before he was hanged in Tombstone not a ten days after they had left. Jack had asked Bill to weave it into his hair because his fingers were shaking too hard.

But Bootstrap had said that Jack had already had plenty of beads in his hair by the time they met, those alter explained by Marcus and a few others from the Wench's crew. Some of them had been tributes to Jack for saving them all from Salazar, along with his hat, coat, pistol, sash and bandanna. The others were acquired in the time since the mutiny and no one knew where, when or how. Some of Jack's rings were even memories, particularly one golden ring with a dark, dark purple stone which he had admitted to James once that he had given it to a woman he had thought he could love. James had never asked for the details of why it was only a 'could have' instead of actual, love, far too glad that he had had a chance to try his own hand for Jack's heart.

So, while Jack occasionally talked about all that made him Jack Sparrow - and not just in appearance, as it had turned out - he never answered any inquiries about his tattoos. Elizabeth had admitted once to trying to get a story out of him, on that little Rummer's Island they had been marooned on, but even as drunk as he had been, Jack had kept his secret firmly behind his teeth.

''Jamie,'' the whine drew his attention away from the tattoos to the man who wore them, looking up and meeting begging black eyes. If anything could have set his insides on fire, it was the look Jack was giving him at that very moment, panting, flushed, eyes blown with lust. He forgot all about the tattoos and their meanings - for now - instead focusing on his lover, driving up into his with force, causing Jack to cry out as his prostate was struck on the very first thrust. Dark hands were practically clawing at James' stomach for purchase as Jack rolled his hips to meet James' next thrust, his head falling back with a throaty moan, echoed by a very loud one from Norrington, too. He sat up, bringing Sparrow closer to his body until he was hugging him while thrusting up into him with increasing force and speed marking one shoulder, the side of the long neck, across the collarbone to the other side and repeating the process while Jack's hands were leaving livid scratches on his sweat slicked back.

It could have been eternity since hey started, or only a few seconds since they started, rocking against each other in pleasure, breathing each other's air, whispering names and things that were a little too close to the heart of the matter for it to be taken so lightly. Jack was tensing up against him, the grip on his manhood becoming tighter and James knew his lover was nearing the edge. He was, too, but he wanted it all to last longer, holding on desperately to the last wisps of self control he still possessed.

''He was undone by three whispered words and a name falling from Jack's lips.

As they lay panting there together, Jack already slipping into the land of dreams, James mulled over the words that had been so breathlessly, desperately, helplessly whispered against his ear and smiled.

 _''James, I love you!''_

No one disturbed them until noon, when the last of the Pirate Lords had arrived and Jack was needed elsewhere. James tried not to be too smug about the slightest of limps in Jack's usual sashaying walk. For both their sanity's sake, judging by the criticizing look Teague gave them both.

But nothing could mask his satisfaction with the night.

Not even the always bickering Brethren Court.


	15. Chapter 15

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

James would like to change his last assessment. The Brethren Court could indeed destroy a delightful night's wonderful results when they all met that night for the meeting with their shouting, leering, shooting and stabbing and whistling and who knows what else. He at least now knew why no meeting of the Brethren Court lasted longer than a few days, as Jack had pointed out, as they managed to quite easily piss Teague and his men off enough to have them all fingering their bows and arrows, knives, pistols, muskets, swords and who knows what other form of weaponry.

Their suggestions regarding what to do now that they knew Jack was the Prince's target were not helping matters any.

"Meet the man!"

"Give him over!"

"Jus' do wot he says and run away later!"

"He's our King, ya cowards! We're not givin' 'im up!"

"We can hide in here until the fancy passes him!"

"Ya heard what they said! The man's obsessed! He won't be leavin' any time soon!"

"Set the Flying Dutchman on him!"

"Ask Calypso fer help!"

"Let 'em take 'im!"

A shot rang out through the air, startling everyone into silence. Scared, they all looked towards where the shot had come from and saw a very unimpressed Barbossa putting away his smoking gun. "Ladies," he addressed the Pirate Lords, making the pirates bristle in wounded pride. "I don' know if ye reckon, but Calypso an' Davy Jones be particularly fond of Jack Sparrow. An' none of us wants Salazar's ghost comin' back t' haunt us in displeasure of mistreatin' 'his little Sparrow', do we?" The room gave a collective shudder at the mere thought of the return of the El Matador Del Mar's ghost again. "B'sides," the Caspian Pirate Lord continued. "Ye're fergettin' that there be another, far closer to us, that be fond of Sparrow."

A pointed look at Captain Teague had the room giving an even worse shudder when they saw his thunderous expression as a possessive, protective hand clutched at Jack's shoulder. Jacord at least looked relieved when everyone paled at the sight of the Keeper so enraged. James recalled Jacord was on good terms with Jack, not to mention that he had his position because of Grandmama. He and Mistress Ching were probably the only ones in the Brethren Court that knew Jack's true relation to the Teague family.

"If anyone deserves our gratitude and loyalty, it be Jack Sparrow." Mistress Ching replied to Barbossa's words, glaring at Sao Feng, who had been the most eager one to give Jack up to the English. The Singapore Pirate Lord glared right back but didn't dare so much as twitch. Teague's men had armed themselves as soon as Teague had gripped his son's shoulder, taking scarily precise aim at everyone in the room. Ivan seemed to have taken a great grand amount of pleasure in pointing his gun at the back of Sao Feng's skull. According to what Marcus could tell them, it was personal.

"I agree with the madam." Jacord was quick to add, nodding at the Pirate King. Jack nodded discretely back at him in thanks and the older man winked back before he started another argument with another of the Pirate Lords. Jack rolled his eyes heavenwards and met James' from across the room, Nortington no more impressed by this type of behavior than he was. Another two fist fights ensued before Sparrow did what he did best in such situations.

"QUIET!"

It was more effective than the pistol shot had been, everyone once again turning to look in a single direction, this time at the Caribbean Pirate Lord. The abashed looks on their faces as he glared at them was almost comical, but Jack refrained from showing it. Any sign that he wasn't serious was going to end in the biggest mutiny in history. Jack would rather not be handed over, tied up and unarmed, to a man who followed in Beckett's footsteps enough to kill so many men just to get his attention. If he was to be handed over, his Da will be next, since if Lawrence Norrington was truly here, the man will definitely, without a single doubt, demand for his greatest nemesis and rival to be handed over for hanging. Or shooting, however Lawrence's preferences blow. Jack wasn't sure his Grandmama would survive losing both her son and her only grandson in the same day. She really was far too old to handle such grief.

Then again, the other option was that she'll go berserk and put the fear of god - or maybe rather a woman scorned - into both the pirates and the Navy boys. God help them all if she gets down to business.

Jack looked around the room, noting with interest that most of the pirates present, old and young, male or female, balked under his gaze, almost stepping back when his eyes settled on them each in turn. That was interesting. Rarely has he ever been truly feared. People were usually only wary of him, knowing he was dangerous but also that he wasn't usually the deadly type of dangerous. He tended more to be caught up in trouble than to truly be the cause of it. They saw a silly, crazy man, but never the pirate that had once done the seemingly unthinkable. Actually, more than once. His mad feats got him his reputation, not his cruelty or the number of dead in his wake. But he guessed they had learned to fear him a little, after hearing what he had done in the past or witnessing the war he had led in their name, in the name of their freedom.

"Tell me, gentlemen, ladies," he said after finishing his sweep of the room. "Are we not the Brethren Court? The most ferocious, infamous, powerful pirates in the seven seas? Are we not the Court that had readily sailed out of this very Cove, two years ago, to face two cursed ships, with two cursed, undead crews? With an armada to back them up? Have we not been ready to lock swords and exchange metal and powder with Davy Jones himself? With Salazar, not as a mortal but a ghost that cannot die?" Murmurs were raising in the room, the pirates discussing Jack's words among themselves. He left them to it, for the time being, knowing that was the best way to earn their favor. Jack was, if nothing else, an expert manipulator and charmer. He'll have them crying for war before the night was up.

"Think about it, me hearties. We've not backed down from plenty stronger and more fearsome pirate hunters than some princling." He wheedled with an arrogant grin. "Wouldn't it be quite the shame to bulk under him if we'd gathered the courage to risk Calypso's fury when we released her? I wager the wrath of the sea is far more dangerous than the wrath of the crown should we drown a few Navy rats. We'd dared to do the first, why hesitate to do the second?"

"So you will call upon Calypso?" Eduardo Villanueva asked almost excitedly but deflated when Jack shook his head.

"According to the Code, it is the Brethren Court's responsibility to deal with anyone who endangers our way of life, not Calypso's. If you remember correctly, we were the ones - well, our predecessors, but do you honestly think a goddess cares that much? - to bind her in the first place. She's not our ally because we freed her."

"Then why is she?" Sao Feng challenged, his arms crossed over his chest, head tilted back superiorly despite Ivan never having moved his gun away. Jack shot him an annoyed look.

"Because I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy?" He snapped at the annoyance and was throughly enjoying how Barbossa was hissing warnings and reprimands at the other Pirate Lord. Who would have thought he and Hector would be thick as thieves once again? Fate truly found it amusing to twist their lives so. "The point is, she's our ally and that means the sea will be on our side whatever we decide to do. Problem is, our enemy is still busily killing people out at sea and Davy Jones is twice as busy with getting all those people across and his curse is acting up again, so she's being a considerate lover and keeping to his side to slow it down and ensure all our brother and sister pirates make it to the other side, savvy?"

A few pirates looked ashamed at not even having thought about their lost friends, family and rivals. Jack played the advantage when he saw it.

"She visited me, a few days ago. Appe'red out o' thin air, she did, sayin' th' dead are callin' fer vengeance. Can we truly deny them their last request?" Without hesitation, Jack jumped onto the big table and came to stand in the center so all could see him, ignoring how his father, lover, crew and father's crew all tensed further when he left the relative safety of Teague's immediate premise. "Gentlemen. Ladies." Sparrow made sure his words were as grave as the situation called for it. "The song has been sung. You are all here, arriving at no doubt unnatural speeds. Do you need any more evidence that we will have supernatural help? That this is needed? If we let them have their way now," he said with feeling, whirling around in a circle to indicate he was addressing all present. "They will want and take more and more. What have we done if we let generations upon generations of piracy fall before our very own eyes when we could have stopped it if we had just tried?"

He walked from table end to table end, looking at every single person in the room, trying to make his point across to them all. As far as emotional, inspirational speeches went, Jack's were best suited before an adventure or a treasure hunt. He was not a man of war, even though he could be a marvelous commander. He still preferred parley. It had saved his neck more often than any form of luck had, his wit and his words.

"We've fought the Navy before. Not just the English. There were others before them that had wanted to exchange fire with us. Spanish. Dutch. Portageese. Chinese. Japanese. Greek. Italian. French. Turkish. Indian. Russian. Madagascar. Egyptian. All sorts of Navies, aye? Have we ever fallen short before them?"

"No!" The room answered loudly, disgusted by the very idea. Sparrow grinned like the cat that had gotten the cream.

"I believe we've faced far worse odds. Us and our predecessors, aye?"

"Aye!"

"So are we going to shame them? Fail where they have succeeded?"

"No!" It was half a roar, half a cheer this time. Jack"s and Teague's crews were definitely leading the answers.

"We've succeeded where they've fallen short! The sea is no longer our 'captive', but an ally. The winds blow in our sails and the currents speed us along! The waves don't rock our ships when we're taking aim! The rain doesn't fall in our eyes in battle! The breeze does not blind us with our hair! The sun is always behind us, blinding the enemy! Are we fools enough to ignore these advantages provided by godly help?"

"No!" The room was practically thundering with each answer. Jack tried his best not to show his satisfied, arrogant, smug smirk just yet.

"We have years of experience fighting against the Navy! We know their most commonly used strategies! We have the _home field advantage_ , my fellow buccaneers! We must use it all wisely. The numbers didn't matter much last time! They won't matter now, either! We'll make it so! Shipwreck Island is an impenetrable and unsiegable fortress! We have ammunition to last us _years_ of constant battle! They'll run out after just a few weeks! They'll run out of provisions before that!'' Jack was honestly becoming as riled up as his fellow pirates, a must to get them all into the mood. It was working wonders for the morale of men to see their leader so pumped up.

''They're no Flying Dutchman, my fellow Lords and pirates!''

''Aye! They're weak!''

''We'll defeat them in one battle!''

''Raise the flags!''

''Gather the men!''

''Surely the island itself has some heavy weaponry!''

''We could get the pelicans to drop inflamed bombs on their ships!''

''I say we sneak up on them by riding under sea turtles! The East has long since devised bamboo breathing tubes for longer underwater travels!''

''Prepare the ships!''

''Ready the sails!''

''Get the rum!'' The last one got the loudest of all cheers, the insanity of an upcoming battle sweeping everyone up. even those who had been most against the idea. Jack exchanged a look with his father that said all too clearly that he had expected to need a little more convincing in order to get them this pumped up but Teague just shook his head, took one of the passing rum tankards and raised it in the air in a toast.

''To our King,'' he nodded at Jack as a tankard was shoved into his hands, too. Not that he was complaining. ''And to our victory!''

''Aye!''

''Blessed be Pirate King Jack Sparrow!'' One pirate yelled, most probably from the Cove itself and not any particular ship.

''To the blood of our enemies!'' Barbossa toasted next, getting even more cheers. James, Will, Elizabeth, Theodor and Andrew were not quite used to before battle parties like these. They'd never really seen how their fellow pirates acted before going to war. The last time, they had been full of trepidation due to two undead crews and an armada. This time, they knew for sure they won't be facing anything supernatural - except the levels of the Prince's obsession with Jack Sparrow - and they knew for certain that the sea will be flowing to their benefit.

''To our fallen comrades,'' Jack called next, sombering the mood a little, just enough for them to remember that they were going out to face what is essentially a mas-murdering criminal among pirates and that their mates that were no longer there demanded retribution. That it was up to them to provide said retribution and ensure there will be plenty more generations of pirates to come.

''To freedom.'' The toast came from an unexpected source and they all swiveled around to look at Norrington. But his eyes were only on Jack, deep green and burning with determination. The room's occupants looked around at each other, wonderingly, when Jack's lips tipped in a half hearted attempt at his usual smile.

''Aye, to freedom.'' He downed his drink in one swig, the room echoing the sentiment before following his lead.


	16. Chapter 16

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

''Jack,'' said man looked up when a knock preluded and followed the call, arching an eyebrow in curiosity as to why the owner of said voice was here at this time of night. It was already well past midnight and even the workaholic James had passed out along with Andrew and Theodor some hours past. Jack had left them to sleep in the chairs they'd fallen asleep in inside his cabin on the Pearl, retreating further into the sleeping quarters with the maps and the plans they were developing for the upcoming battle. The trip from Tortuga to Shipwreck Cove was only a few days long and they needed to be ready for when their enemies come into sight. They won't have time to not be prepared when the time comes, since the crossing alone takes up a lot of their time. They'll need space for all the ships to get out and be at a safe distance for a possible charge and further maneuvering. Everyone had to be aware of the plans beforehand or else chaos would ensue.

Not to mention that they can't just go in firing wily nilly, that's the easiest way to get blown out of the water! That's why the ex officers had fallen asleep at his table, Barbossa at least having the wits to go to bed when he realized he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Two days have already passed since the official declaration of war Jack had had to make and most of the planning was done. The last few details were giving them some grief but that will be over with soon enough, too. Teague had left it up to the Pirate King and his closest to sort it all out and so far, there had been very few snags. They were a very good team, even though Barbossa tended to piss one of the former Navy officers off at any point in time during their planning and then they'd have to duke it out with words and that one time arm wrestling.

Jack had not been amused when they almost spilled ink over one of his best maps.

''Can I come in?'' Came another call from beyond his doors and Jack sighed, belatedly realizing he had not yet answered.

''Get in 'ere, Lizzy. I can't stand up right now.'' If he did, he would knock over the ink pot or crumple one of the maps scattered all over his bed, lap and floor or maybe even lose them under his bed or one of the chests in his private quarters. The door opened cautiously and Elizabeth Turner scanned the mess of the room with a sort of awed horror before she shook it off and carefully walked in, closing the door behind her. She carefully picked her way over to one of the before mentioned chests and sat gingerly down, observing Jack for a few minutes as he calculated and recalculated the distance between a few groups of ships meant to take the middle west wing. When he was finally done, he looked up with a tired smile at his in-law or whatever they were to each other. ''What can I do fer ya, lass?''

He noted that she seemed a bit nervous and wondered what that was all about but decided not to push her. If she was here already, then she was going to tell him on her own, in her own time. He can be patient. When James wasn't driving him mad in the bed, that is.

''You know how I've been having some ... digesting problems, over the past week or so?'' Elizabeth started and her Captain absently nodded. ''Well, I've gone and seen that doctor you've recommended. Dr Smith?'' Jack nodded again, worry starting to settle in. Was Lizzy ill? Should he prepare something strong to help console the whelp? ''I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me to go into battle, Jack.''

That had him all but throwing the maps away. Something a lot like panic was settling in his gut. Elizabeth, not going into battle? That was unheard of! She had as much pirate in her veins as any of the rest of his crew did and she enjoyed a good raid or battle! There must be something really wrong with her if she was choosing not to go even with a doctor ordering it. It had never stopped her before.

''What did he say?''

She must have picked up on something in his voice for she smiled shakily at him. ''It's nothing bad, Jack. I just ... I need to take care, from now on.'' Jack stared at her dumbly for a moment before he noticed the extra coat, a sash around her waist that she usually didn't wear and the way her hands were positioned, as though protecting her abdomen ... The woman giggled when she saw realization dawn in his eyes.

''Really?'' Black eyes met brown and she nodded with a shy smile. A wide one spread across Jacks face, beaming like the afternoon sun. ''That's great! I get to see me third generation of Turners! This calls for a celebration! Drinks all around!''

''Shh, Jack, no.'' The once lady chided and the pirate pouted at her.

''No rum?''

''No rum.'' The Pirate King groaned in disappointment, making Elizabeth giggle again. ''At least not until you've dealt with Prince Henry.''

''Ever met the bloke?'' Sparrow asked curiously. He'd never really bothered to question anyone who he'd known of 'higher breeding' what court life was like. He'd seen enough from windows during raids to judge it incredibly boring and far too complicated and restricting for his tastes. Still ,eh knew there was a hierarchy there that far surpassed what the pirate have made for themselves with the Brethren Cort and whatnot. He may be Pirate King but he was still allowed to talk with whoever he wanted and anyone who dared could take a shot at him if they weren't afraid of facing the consequences in the form of his Da and possibly a very pissed off Calypso. He was pretty sure 'true' Royalty was not to talk to 'commoners' unless it was to order them around. But Elizabeth was of high enough breeding to tell him what true court life was like and if Governor's daughters met Princes or not.

''Once, I think, when I was very little.'' The ex lady said with a shrug. "I think it was on the party to celebrate my father's becoming Governor." Elizabeth smiled bitterly, looking down. "He would have so loved to meet his grandchild."

"'E was a good man, great. Didn't deserve to suffer Beckett's company. But let's face it, luv, 'e would of spoiled little William rotten." Jack agreed, earning a startled laugh out of his companion and he grinned.

"I think it's a bit too early to be deciding on the name of the baby just yet, Captain Sparrow." Lizzy teased, earning herself a snort.

"It's goin' to be William, or Willy, an' that's final." He said, raising his nose imperiously in the air like a spoiled, snobby noble. Mrs Turner laughed again, forgetting for the moment about her father, one of the numerous victim's of Beckett's stint in the Caribbean two years ago. "Speakin' of Williams, 'ave ye told either that they're gonna be a Da or Granda?"

Elizabeth frowned, worrying her lip as she did her best not to look away from the penetrating black gaze. "I thought it would be best if I talked to you first. You need to think about who's going to replace me in the crew, after all. I didn't want to inconvenience you further by taking away Bill and Will, too."

"Nonsense, Lizzy!" Jack exclaimed, stunned at her train of thought. "You and wee Turner are th' most importan' in this! An' o' course the Da and Granda aren't goin' ta go into war an' risk leavin' ya all to yer lonesome should a tragedy strike! Wot d' ya take me for?"

"It's not that at all, Jack!" She hurried to correct when she heard genuine hurt in his tone. "Not like that at all, I assure you. It's just that, well ... You need good men on your ship. Not that I'm saying the other's aren't good enough, but James can't be the only one to watch your back. Especially with that mad man after you. Especially as I know you'll be addressing the matters of parley like last time. You need someone you can trust not to skewer themselves on their own sword to be there and you can't take any of your officers with you. Who's to maneuver the Black Pearl if it comes to that?"

"Dear Will has more important things to worry about, darlin'. And Bill more than deserves to see his grandchild." The Captain replied with steely determination. Elizabeth wasn't scared to challenge it.

"Jack, you are quite literally the epitome of all that these men and women stand for, if a bit idealized, seeing as you're the King of cutthroats while never actually having killed anyone for the hell of it." The woman said earnestly, leaning over the mess on the floor to catch one of the dark hands in both of her own smaller, paler ones. Gone was the white pallor of a proper lady and instead the tan of a sailor has long since settled in. Still, she was nowhere near as dark as Jack, no matter how much time in the sun she spent. Then again, his mother was a native. He probably got it from her. "If you fall or are lost to the enemy, the others won't hesitate to flee and James has made it quite clear that his father was pretty much of the same mindset as the El Matador Del Mar."

"Don't you think I know that?" A haunted look was present in Jack's eyes that had Elizabeth watching him with worry. "I've met Mr Norrington Senior before, Lizzy. He had kidnapped me as a lad to get to my Da, but Da hadn't been all that happy about it. 'Twas a bloody battle, that one. We nearly died."

"Your father?" Elizabeth frowned in confusion. "But I was told that he kidnapped the Keeper's son and Mr Gibbs helped him escape-" She cut herself off with a gasp, brown eyes becoming as wide as saucers as she stared at him. Jack made sure he showed no reaction, be it amusement or apprehension as to how she will react to essentially being lied to for two years. Or to the possibility that she hadn't figured it out before. "Jack, are you telling me that-"

"I ain't tellin' ya nothin', luv." Jack interrupted with a faux innocent, charming smile which she ignored, not even bothering to frown at him like she usually would for his rude manners.

"That you're Captain Teague's wayward son that had escaped the Cove and was searched for for years?" And there was that incredulity he had been expecting, although Jack could see it changing further into annoyance and self-directed anger. "How have I not seen it before? You look almost exactly like him!"

"To be fair, luv, rare few spare the thought and time to connect the dots." The Keeper's son replied with a casual shrug.

"Yes, but I'm your _friend_ , Jack!"

"Doesn't matter. Jamie didn't get it until Da told 'im. An' usually when people see the serious, deadly, scary Keeper the last thin' that crosses their minds is that he's good ol' Jack's Da, wot with how differently we act."

"James _knew_!?"

The Pirate Lord of the Caribbean rolled his eyes. Of course that's where her mind had locked on. Typical of women. "Aye, he knows. Met me whole family an' was left scarred fer life, me Jamie. Ye're better off not knowin' 'em."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at her Captain. "You're taking me to meet them, Jack."

"Wot?! Why!?" The incredulous Pirate King asked, shocked. "Why'd ye want to meet a family of drunk and mad pirates?"

"One," Elizabeth replied in the same tone as when he'd asked her why she'd burned all the rum during their little marooning on Rummer's Island. Jack instinctively hid the bottle of rum on his nightstand table behind his back. He ignored her long suffering eye roll. "Because they're your family and family says a lot about a person."

"Not mine it doesn't. I'm the black sheep!"

"And _two_ ," she pointedly went on, ignoring his protests. "They are practically my and Will's extended family. I think we deserve to meet them." She arched a challenging eyebrow at him. "Not to mention you knew both our families while we never even knew you had any left until what happened two years ago."

Sparrow sighed, knowing there was no getting out of this. Why did he always end up with bossy women? "Fine, fine, fine. Ya can meet me family an' end up like Jamie, scarred fer life."

"James seems perfectly fine to me."

"He's just hidin' it well, is all."

Elizabeth giggled at the pouting Pirate King, beyond amused. "Just because _you_ think your family is embarrassing doesn't mean others do, too."

Jack looked at her strangely before shaking his head. "Eh, luv, if it were only that which troubles me regardin' those scoundrels. Still, I think ye'll like Uncle Jack. He be good company."

"Uncle ... Jack?"

"Aye, was named after 'im." Jack said with a fond grin. "It'll scare the bejesus outta ya when Da, him and I stand next t' each other. It sure did good ol' Joshamee."

"That sounds like an interesting story, _your majesty_." The man narrowed his black eyes at her innocent tone but Elizabeth gave nothing away.

"Wot d' ya want t' know, 'Lizabeth?" She'd used that tone of voice many times in the past two years when she wanted to wheedle a story about his past adventures out of him. It must be something of real interest to her that might put him in a bad mood if she was using the whole 'your majesty' shtick. Everyone seemed to think that stroking his ego will get them a story these days.

"Is it true that you have the favor of mermaids? Bill, Calypso and you had a very tense conversation about someone named Lucia and even little Matthew confirmed it that Bill said you were friends."

"How's the little bugger doin', by the way?"

"Fine, Jack." She sighed, exasperated. "Now please answer my question and don't change the subject." Jack rubbed at his temple, feeling more tired than he should. He had remarkable stores of energy, like a child, and could hardly be seen sitting or standing still for long. He usually didn't feel this tired when he had to share a bit of his past, but this was different.

"I met Lucia - lovely lass, she is - during one of my adventures as a lad. Was fifteen, back then, if I remember right. Got separated from Captain Morgan in a port. I overheard some sailors talking about how they were heading for the Fountain of Youth - magical place, that, allowing a man to live forever if he steals the years of another person for his onesies; terrible place, truly - and had to get off shore as soon as possible before anyone finds out about the little mermaid they'd caught."

"But you already did," Elizabeth guessed and Jack nodded.

"Aye, I did. So, curious thing that I was as a teen, I snook up on their ship and found her. They'd made a glass cage for her, 'Lizabeth. Torturing her with the view of the open seas from a porthole while she was bound. Probably trying to get a tear from her, since it was needed for the ritual in order to get that youth they wanted." He leaned closer, as though to share a secret and Elizabeth followed suit, hungry for the story behind Jack's cold behavior towards Bootstrap when he had asked if he had disclosed any important information. "You see, luv, mermaids are not born wee babies like us human folk are. They're born as giant pearls of light in sacred shells, where they spend some time like that before the pearl of light turns into a child of about five years of age. A mermaid, aye, more educated than most of you higher class folks, but a child still."

"They were torturing a child." Elizabeth had paled as soon as he got his point across. Her hand had instinctively reached for her belly. Jack nodded solemnly.

"Aye. Couldn't tell if they harmed her any, since mermaids heal in a matter o' hours. She was scared and cryin' when I found her. She looked seven, but that didn't mean she was any older than maybe a few days or weeks. Mermaids age differently, too, ya see. She was isolated from the rest of the world so her voice can't reach the ears of the sailors and tempt them to let her go."

"Did you free her?"

"I did." Jack replied immediately, without his usual dramatics. "Without hesitation. Smashed the glass and pushed her through the porthole, following meself afterwards when the ship's captain barged in and saw me. She at least didn't leave me to me fate when the captain managed to shoot me in me leg. Kissed me right on the pucker and dragged me under. Traveled for hours like that. You should have _seen_ it, Lizzy! The sea is so beautiful and calm under the surface!" What could only be described a nostalgic, fond and dreamy smile stole over Jack's face as Elizabeth stared at him with fondness and wonder. "And the colors and the lights! And the fishes and crabs and so much more! I don't have the words to even begin describing it, luv." He winked at her then and she knew to expect mischief.

"What did you do, Jack?" She asked with exasperated fondness. He looked offended, although she could tell it was a highly exaggerated act.

"Why, I'll have ye know it wasn't _my_ fault they thought I was the one who kidnapped their princess!" He protested while Elizabeth gawked at him, not having expected that.

"Who?" She asked shakily.

"The other mermaids, course." Sparrow said as though that were the most normal thing in the world. "Spent a few days wiff them just to prove that I'm not one of those bastards. Somehow ended up best buds with most of 'em."

"And, let me guess, they wanted to make you their king?" The noble born lady said with a roll of her eyes, knowing many of Jack's stories ended similarly but he had for this reason or that to decline. Then again, she hasn't been sure as to which stories were lies and which were true ever since she saw how effectively the people of Shipwreck Cove had trained sea turtles to make deliveries for them and the story Jack told her about his first escape from the Rummer's Island was put into question. Jack had the tendency to let people exaggerate his escapades for him so that he could tell others more logical conclusions to his adventures so they would underestimate him. For example, besides the Rummer's Island thing, there was the overly exaggerated story about Jack and a giant. The truth of the story was a freaky island that actually had giant lizards but Jack had said he had fought alligators. And there were plenty of stories with him being made the chief of various native tribes, but, then again, Will had been witness - and victim - in one of those stories so who knew how many of those were true, too. And she had seen how easily he was chosen for Pirate King ...

Jack snorted. "Don't be ridiculous! They wanted that only after Lucia grew up, seeing' as she had a bit o' a crush on me." There was a surprising dusting of pink on Jack's face that had Elizabeth arching an eyebrow. "Shut up. I'm probably the only bloody fool who wouldn't take the chance."

"I didn't say anything." She countered but let the matter drop. "So a mermaid's kiss truly does grant you the ability to breathe under water?"

"Aye. You can't drown. Wonderful little gift for a sailor, aye?" He chuckled, thinking back to something Elizabeth would really like to ask him about but refrained from doing so. It was already late enough for her to worry about how healthy this was for the life growing in her belly and Jack needed to get some rest, too.

"It's late. I should be going now." Jack made to stand up to follow her, but she shook her head and pointed with her thumb outside. "One of Captain Tea- your father's men saw me walking here and offered to escort me here and back to the house." She and Will had bought a small house a bit deeper into the Cove, further away from the noise port after they became permanent crew members of the Black Pearl. This way, they always had a place to go to should they return to the Cove, an occurrence made more likely since Jack was Pirate King, even though this was the first time they came here in the two years since the house was bought.

Jack nodded and let her go with a kiss to her cheek, but he stood at the porthole that looked out of his cabin down at the docks. He watched her go until she and the man that worked for his father didn't disappear from his sight. He reached up to finger one of his beads, opposite the black pearl he'd gotten from Salazar, a startling blue color and almost like a cut opal. Unknowingly, Elizabeth had given Jack an Idea with her questioning. Yes, with a capital I. It was dangerous and a bit of a gamble, all things considered. But if Calypso was busy ...

Jack Sparrow whirled around on his feet, picked up the plans and left his beloved ship as silently as a thief.

He needed to think.


	17. Chapter 17

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

'The next morning found the entire Cove in a frenzy as the EITC and Navy ships were seen on the horizon in the distance and Jack was nowhere to be found. To be expected, the entire Cove was looking all over and most of them were putting it on James' shoulders to find his lover. The usual, really.

Only Jack wasn't at the shipwreck yard he'd been the last two times he had decided to disappear in the Cove.

And James had checked everywhere else his lover could be, too, starting with the Library. Since he wasn't there, James had went to the Bank and looked for him there, but the men who worked there said Sparrow hadn't even passed around that part. His next stop had been the Black Pearl again, since that man preferred not to stay away for long from his precious ship. He wasn't back there either and hadn't been seen at all since last night. The last one to see him was Elizabeth but she couldn't think of anything that they had talked about that would make him hide. Will and Bill, though, were restless since they had found official sounding papers that allowed -read ordered - them to stay behind for the upcoming battle and they wanted to speak with him immediately. Elizabeth looked upset at their frantic behavior yet guiltily relieved as well.

James didn't have overly much time to spend on pondering this, as he had a lover to find, so he let the Turners deal with it on their own. He went to the Teague home to see if he had stopped by there, but seeing as Teague was prowling his office like a caged animal, it was clear Jack hadn't been there, either. His namesake uncle seemed uneasy as well, though he still told his corny joke about a skeleton in a bar to try and relieve some of the tension. He went to some of the taverns next, asking about and finding out that Jack hadn't set foot in the citadel at all. He even went so far as to speak with the other Pirate Lords, having to restrain himself from trotting Sao Feng and Chevalle more than once during the conversation and Mistress Ching unnerved him with her sightless stare.

He searched from morning to late afternoon, scaling throughout the entire town and Cove, going as far as to check the secret tunnels that lined the walls of the Crossing and check the part of the docks reserved for the sea turtles. He even had someone lead him to the tunnels through which they received the pelicans and pigeon messengers, searching on the outside of the Shipwreck Island until his guide got sick of waiting for him and all but dragged him back into the Cove. He truly went all over the Cove and further to search for Jack, but there was no sing of him. He was about to give up when an enchanting melody reached his ears as he moodily stormed past one of the few secluded beaches Jack had not shown even Will and Elizabeth. Intrigued, he followed the sound, wondering what could be making it, until he reached the beach and it just ... became misty ... in his mind.

Until he saw a sight that had his blood freezing. He couldn't do anything else but stare at what he was seeing, not really sure if he should believe it was true. For there before him was Jack, the very man he had spent half the day looking for, sprawled out on the sand, his coat and hat and cutlass and pistol all set carefully aside a little further away from the man himself, a beautiful young, blond, pale woman laying on top of him, singing that beautiful, hypnotic melody while gazing into fond black eyes with loving cerulean ones, long lashes fluttering with every blink.

And she was naked. Completely and utterly _naked_. James just stood there gawking as she fingered and played with Jack's beads and dreadlocks until said man - attuned to James, like always these days - became aware of Norrington's rising jealousy and looked over with a content if slightly sheepish smile. "Jamie, love! Come, come! There's someone I want you to meet!"

The girl looked up from Sparrow and her eyes zeroed in on Norrington, studying him like one would a horse they'd want to buy. James straightened his back and met those startling blue eyes, glaring at the blond as she arched a fine eyebrow at him. "Is this him? The one that shares your Pearl's place in your heart? I'm jealous that you've snatched him up already." She glanced down teasingly at the man under her, a sly smile on her face. "Or is it the other way around, I wonder?"

The Pirate King just rolled his eyes at her while he beckoned James over. "James, I'd like you to meet her royal marine highness, Princess Lucia of the Pacific, a pretty young lass that holds a dear place in my piratical heart." Said girl blushed a deep red under his charming words and looked away, glaring at Norrington's stink eye when she noticed it. "Lucia, this is James Norrington, my lover and one of my crew from aboard the Black Pearl."

"It's a pleasure, my lady," the ex Navy man said in his old Commodore-bored-to-hell-with-your-bullshit-sarcastic drawl, an eyebrow arched in a very courtly unimpressed manner.

"The pleasure is all yours, I assure you." The so called Princess returned in much the same way, although a lot more scathingly before looking back at the pirate she was using as a mattress. ''Jack, when will you actually visit again?'' Lucia pouted at her companion and Norrington's heart skipped a beat in panic when he saw his lover carding careful, gentle fingers through her long, long golden blond hair. She was truly beautiful and James felt rather inadequate in her presence. And as such, he was nervous.

Would Jack even look at him after this woman left? It was rather hard to compete against the fairer sex.

''Sorry, luv, but you know I can't. It's dangerous for me and you. Someone could follow me and then where'd we be?''

''You could always become one of us,'' she pointed out as though it were logical and Jack laughed, throwing his head back. ''It's not funny.'' Lucia was pouting full force by the time Jack was finished with his mirth.

''I won't leave my Pearl, luv. I've chased her for ten years, went to hell with her and came back on her. There's nothing you can do to convince me otherwise.'' He raised a finger in warning when the girl went to speak, his eyes hard. ''And don't even think about dragging her to the bottom of the ocean cause I'll be real pissed with you.'' The blond huffed and looked away, sitting up enough to be able to cross her arms over her ample chest. Jack's face melted again and he bonked her on the forehead gently with a knuckle. ''I promise I'll come for a visit after this mess is over and done with.''

She looked at him critically before nodding her head in determination. ''You better.'' She warned then leaned down and stole a peck from dark lips. Then she completely shamelessly stood up and walked over to the water's edge, not even sparing a glance at the younger of the two men present. ''I'll hold you to it.''

''On me honor, luv!'' Sparrow called out as he propped himself up on his elbows to wave at her. She smiled a beaming smile in his direction before just jumping into the waves and never reemerging. Jack chuckled to himself and shook his head, beads and trinkets tinkling in the quiet with only the waves as background noise before he started when someone else settled over him in a manner similar yet completely different to Lucia's earlier pose. He looked up from the strong arms caging him to the owner of said arms and grinned up at his lover. ''Jamie, love, what can I do for you?''

James paused in whatever it was that he had been thinking of doing, staring down at Jack in shock. Absolute, utter shock. It had been two years - _two years_ \- since they'd gotten together and James had not noticed until this very moment the difference between the endearments Jack gives him and the ones he casually throws around, most notably the difference in the L one.

When speaking to anyone else, Captain Jack Sparrow used the very obviously mispronounced, drunkenly drawled 'luv'.

When he was using it as an endearment along with James' name or the nickname he insisted on using, it was always a clearly, fully grammatically correct pronunciation of 'love'.

How had he not noticed that before?

He nearly started right out of his skin when warm palms caught his face, worried black eyes gazing up at him. ''James, you alright, mate?'' He caressed one cheek almost absently, those dark orbs darting all over James' features in inspection, searching for something only he knew how to find. ''Her song didn't scramble your brains, did it?''

''What?'' The younger of the two finally spoke up, not understanding what Jack meant. The man at least sighed in relief before focusing on his lover's confusion.

''Mermaid song is known to drive a man completely bonkers if he listens too long, James. You sure you're alright?'' The genuine worry in Jack's voice made Norrington's heart skip a beat or two but he smiled at his lover, tilting his head just so to kiss one of the palms holding his face, enjoying the contact when something the other said finally registered. He paused, looking at Jack with narrowed eyes.

"Jack, what did you just say?"

He looked at him strangely before chuckling in understanding. "Ah, only now registered the whole mermaid part, aye?"

"M-mermaid!?" Green eyes had gone comically wide and Jack outright laughed in his face, trying to hide and control his mirth lest his lover get annoyed with him.

"Aye, mermaid. Lucia be her name. We go _way_ back." He replied, stroking James' cheek again, absently. "Saved each other's hides once or twice. Good lass, she is, if a little possessive, what with her crush on me. Then again," Jack mused, turning his head to look at the salty water of the ocean. "Her sisters are, too. 'Tis very rare, Jamie-love, for them to find a man so truly in love that their song doesn't reach his heart. They respect those rare few that they find. Treasure them. Keep 'em close if they can."

"They obviously couldn't keep you." James mused in turn, deciding not to ponder too much about him not being affected by the mermaid's song, since while he very much knew his feelings about Jack, it still made him feel awkward to just stop and think about it. Besides, Jack had only confessed to returning his affections during a moment of passion. He hadn't even shown inclinations that he was aware that he'd said it. James knew that Jack was skittish of any formal commitment, so he didn't bring it up for fear of his lover avoiding him. So soon after the biggest fight they'd ever had with each other or anyone else in their lives, James didn't want to risk their renewed bliss for something that didn't even need to be said. He knew well enough that Jack had never been affected by harsh words from his previous lovers like he had been with James'.

It was a level of attachment and commitment that James knew well enough to respect and treasure.

Jack grinned up at his younger lover, golden teeth glinting. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."

Norrington snorted at him but let it go. He leaned down and kissed those tempting lips, accepting the invitation when Jack opened his mouth with a soft content sigh. They just kissed there, for a long moment, on the little secluded beach, enjoying the moment of peace they had borrowed in this time of unrest, sharing warmth and breath before slowly pulling apart. Jack's eyes were twinkling with something other than mischief for once and James wanted nothing more than to stay right there, in that very moment, for the rest of time. To keep Jack this safe and happy and protected from the harsh reality of the world they lived in. He _desperately_ wished he could do it.

But wishes were not horses or ships or however the proverb went. Jack was the Pirate King and he had a responsibility and obligation to the people who have placed such trust and loyalty in him. He can't keep his lover all to himself so selfishly when Jack was needed elsewhere, even if the man himself were not the free spirit that he was that would balk at such restraints.

With a sigh, he drew back and sat on the sand, drawing Jack into his lap without a single protest from the shorter man, although he did seem a bit confused by the sudden change in mood. James smiled wryly at him, a hand in those wild locks, playing with a few of the beads and trinkets there. He wondered if there was a trinket for him, somewhere in these wild locks. He knew the fish bone, the red scarf and one of the stringed together bead 'chains' came from the Wench's crew as tributes after the defeat of Salazar. He knew the ghost of said man had given Jack the black pearl that rested at the end of his longest lock. He knew the dice was for an Indian friend long since dead. He knew the dreadlocks themselves were for Tia Dalma, or rather Calypso, in honor of their long standing friendship. The rest, Jack had once given him names with no stories behind them. They meant nothing to him but they meant something to Jack.

"Jamie, love? Is something the matter?"

Norrington shook his head, focusing on the present and forgetting about beads and trinkets. He can bother Jack about them after they have dealt with this mess, first. "They're here, Jack. They've been spotted in the distance this morning and everyone has been searching for you since while you were off, lounging around with a naked mermaid on your chest." If a little of his jealous reared its head and was present in his voice, Jack was gracious enough not to comment on it. For now.

"Bugger. I hoped for another day, at least." The Pirate King sighed, looking in the direction that the Crossing should be. The Crossing was pretty much visible from all sides of the Cove, but they were hidden by some rock formations from the rest of it on this beach, so all Jack could see was said rocks. Still, there was a calculating glint in his gaze. "The watch on top of the island can see up to three days away ships, what with that big astronomer's telescope we stole from that one Greek ship. The plans are finalized and most of the ships are already battle ready. We just need to distribute the plans and set out to meet them."

"You could have been distributing said finished - when did you do that, by the way? - plans instead of chatting with mermaid princesses." James pointedly reminded him and Jack pouted at him. "This isn't like with Beckett, Jack. My father is a sailor worth his salt and a good strategist. We won't so easily outmaneuver them this time around. Beckett liked to play pirate hunter, but my father actually _is_ one, remember?"

"Aye, I remember well enough, James." Sparrow also pointedly reminded, arching a challenging brow at the taller man. "Da and I felt it better than most, on our own skins. We know he's an accomplished pirate hunter and seaman, but he never caught Da and he never caught me again after that one time. Used a real nasty trick, for that first time. Couldn't trust people much, after that." He shook his head, focusing on the present and their fast approaching enemy. "Da said he will gladly cross blades with him again to distract him, but only if you don't mind."

"The Keeper asking a mere deckhand of his son's ship for permission?" James joked to avoid answering the question but Jack didn't let him use his own tactics against him.

"A father is asking his son's lover for permission to fight said lover's own father in what might end up being a duel to the death, knowing those two. Or an attempted one. James, he may not show it - or he shows it in some strange, roundabout, creepy way - but he does respect you somewhat and he approves of you. Seeing how overprotective he is, that's gotta be saying something." The seriousness of his words had James looking away. "He don't want t' hurt ya, mate."

"He knows, then. About our fights and what started it all." It wasn't anywhere near a question, but a statement of fact. Jack sighed through his nose but nodded. "How did he find out? I thought the Black Pearl was the fastest ship in the seven seas. How am I still even alive?"

"My Pearl _is_ the fastest ship in the seas." Sparrow reassured, kissing James' forehead and looping his arms around strong shoulders. He was all but snuggling up to him and James enjoyed the comfort being offered, no matter how well masked behind Jack's more tactile nature. "But that doesn't mean she can outrace a messenger pigeon. Someone from his old crew was at Tortuga that night and they immediately sent word to him. Had we not been on speaking or civil terms by the time we docked, he would have shot you dead the second you stepped off the Pearl, love."

"I should be grateful to Calypso and Barbossa for making it possible at all, I guess."

"Always be grateful to a lady, love."

A snort. "I don't think you're the best equipped to give advice in manners and the proper treatment of ladies, Jack."

A chuckle. "No, but I _am_ the best equipped in charming sea goddesses." James had to give him credit for that. Calypso _was_ overly fond of him, not in the way she was of Davy Jones, but still fond. And he apparently held the affections of other sea women, for the lack of a better description.

"What will you do, Jack?" He asked instead of commenting on Jack's last retort. "When we're to weight anchor and set sail? You won't be able to just avoid a fight like you usually prefer. The man's _obsessed_! Is there some kind of contagious sparrow obsession going about?" First him, then Beckett and then Salazar and now this Prince. Then again, chronologically speaking, it is likely that Salazar was first and he was actually last in line, if what little Matthew said was true about how Prince Henry even became obsessed with Sparrow in the first place.

Said man shuddered in disgust. "I bloody well hope not. Beckett was more than enough." He paused to think about his question seriously before smiling gently with a small shrug. "You'll just have to see, mate. Trust ol' Jack, aye?"

"Parlay?" He ventured a guess even as he maneuvered himself and his lover to their feet, bending down to get Jack's effects and ignoring the other man ogling his ass. He did give him a stern glare when he handed said effects over.

Jack just grinned. "Parlay."


	18. Chapter 18

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

They set sail two days later to meet the fleet a good distance away from Shipwreck Island so they would have more room for maneuvering, should it come to that. Once again, the Black Pearl had taken head, only the Misty Lady now followed after her not a long distance away. Barbossa followed as closely on his own ship, a habit by now to follow Sparrow into harebrained, dangerous situations, as a promise to the Turners that he'd take their place to help Norrington Junior watch Jack's back. The seven remaining Pirate Lords followed a handful of paces behind the Pirate King's glorious black ship, but they would be stopping a third of the way over to the same little island Jack had arranged to be the place of parley the last time war was brewing in front of the Cove. The day was sunny, not a cloud in sight, but the sea was restless and the howling of the wind assured the pirates that Calypso was as eager to take down some pirate hunters as they were.

It boosted the men's moral a great deal.

They left for the little spit of land the next day, Jack accompanied by his father, Hector, James, Groves, Gillete and their little would be stowaway, Matthew. They were the first to arrive on the little island, James and Andrew rowing their big jolly boat, but their counterparts were soon to follow. James was just helping Jack get out of the beached boat when he was all but pushed away from his lover by a man he only barely remembered and recognized from his younger years. When he reached for Jack, however, there were several drawn weapons and cocked guns directed at him before he could come within two feet of the eccentric pirate Captain, the first and most firmly pointed one being that of Captain Teague while he pushed his son slightly behind him. The sound was echoed from behind the man as well, his own entourage preparing for a small bloodbath, right on the sand of this very beach.

Prince George Henry VII just smiled pleasantly and gestured at his men to stand down. He made to move closer to Jack again, around the oldest pirate present, only to have the gun pressed right against his forehead by an unyielding hand. He raised his arms a little, as though in surrender or a peace reassurance as he spoke, smile still bright. "There is no need for that, I assure you, gentlemen. I wish you no harm." He gave a dazzling smile at Sparrow. Teague's finger twitched but Jack finally intervened before the parley rules were broken and, thus, the Code.

"'Tis alright, everyone put their weapons down." He said loudly and obnoxiously, moving his hands and arms eccentrically like he was wont to. The Prince was watching him with a gaze that could almost be described as hungry and Jack did his best to ignore him for the moment. The man was fish-fry on this island, but his companions were decidedly not. "'Tis jus' parley." A pointed look at his overprotective father had Teague reluctantly nodding and stoving his gun away. For now. His hand remained on his cutlass, but Jack figured compromises were better than anything. James still held fast to his sword, but Barbossa had put away his weapons, no doubt hiding them so he can quickly draw them out should the need arise. Theo and Andrew had also put away their weapons, but not as conveniently as Barbossa, no doubt.

Jack turned around, trusting them to keep his back safe, taking out a small dagger out of one of his numerously depthless pockets and extended it to a wide eyed Matthew. "My word is the law, aye?" His message for the boy was clear, seeing as what their deal had been.

"Aye, sir!" Matthew took the dagger and went back to glaring at Henry, who was honest to god _pouting_ at having Jack's attention stolen from himself. When the Caribbean Pirate Lord turned around, though, he grinned as excitedly as when Matthew was promised a story about one of Jack's grand adventures.

"Captain Jack Sparrow. You look even more delightful in person than Cutler's drawings could ever show. It is an _honor_ to finally meet you face to face. I've heard so much about you." Barbossa sneered at the gushing of a grown man, rolling his eyes at the Prince and wondering if just shooting him now would be worth Teague's ire afterwards. He was making him sick and Jack himself looked none too comfortable, even though he was giving one of his ever charming smiles.

"All bad things, I hope."

Henry leaned in closer but James' sword was there before he could, once again, reach Sparrow. He sent him an annoyed glare before returning his eyes to the man he'd done all of this for. "Not at all. Cutler always had only the best to say about you, Jack. May I call you Jack?"

"It's Captain Sparrow to you, whelp."

"Jack it is." Henry nodded to himself with a pleased little smile, ignoring the glare the eldest pirate was giving him and the way James was inching closer to his lover, protective. "We have so much to discus. Cutler went all wrong with you, so of _course_ you ran away. But worry not, my beautiful little Sparrow, I shall not cage you yet still offer you immense luxury and fortune. You shall ask for nothing-"

"I'm asking already." Jack's face and voice had closed off, becoming tense and dark, his eyes flashing with the spark of anger he could not hide. "For you to never address me as such again. You don't have the right to."

"Oh? And who does? Your close friends? I'm sure we can get to there if you'd just-"

Jack cut him off. " _No_. Whatever it is you were going to say, _no_. That's my answer. And _no_. It's not my friends who call me that. Only one man called me that and that's how I got the name in the first place, so _no_ , you don't get to call me that. I'd be dishonoring a worthy opponent if I let you and I'd rather not have the ghost of El Matador Del Mar coming after me again when we'd just come to an accord, not so long ago. Relatively." There was a clear warning in each of Sparrow's words and yet Henry remained oblivious to them while even little Matthew understood and shifted on his feet in anticipation of violence.

Finally, the royal spoke up, but did not say what they had expected him to. "So _this_ is the serious you that Cutler spoke about. My god, he _was_ right. You are a sight to see, Jack." A shudder ran through the pirate at the look in those brown eyes. He knew that look. Had seen it in Beckett's eyes every time the man tried to leave him no quarter. Had seen it become worse - twice as obvious, too - every time he still found his own quarter. This man was obsessed, maybe even more so than Beckett had ever been. Jack's hand fell on the butt of his pistol and Henry's eyes followed it, falling on his magical Compass instead. His face brightened. "Is that the Compass Cutler searched for so?"

Jack's hand immediately reached for the precious item, the other hand replacing it on its place on his pistol. Teague had already drawn his weapon again when Henry _again_ reached for his son. A slow clapping interrupted James from taking out his sword. "Bravo, Teague. I had not believed you could get more protective and possessive of him since the last time we saw each other. Tell me, are you going to even break your precious Code for him? Such blasphemy, and from the Keeper himself!" They all looked around, towards the slowly approaching aging Navy man, hands now behind his back, sharp eyes focused on the older of the two dreadlocked males. "Such shame, Teague. I expected better from you."

The Keeper growled, pushing Jack behind him and pointing his pistol at Lawrence Norrington's head, all in a single second while James became as stiff as a board. "Norrington. I thought you'd learned the _last_ time how precious my only _son_ is to me." Henry, who was trying to keep Jack in his sigh, gawked just like the rest of the pirates present, only the Norringtons completely impassive to these news. They had known, of course, for two different reasons and from two different sources. Barbossa was looking between father and son and wondering just how the hell he had missed such obvious similarity in their features while Groves looked ready to vibrate out of his skin, his favorite pirate becoming that bit more interesting than he had already been. Matthew was looking at Jack like he was a godsend and Gillete just ... wasn't sure how to react beyond being surprised. He hadn't spent much time around father and son, so he wasn't bothered with not noticing how much alike they were. "If I had to, I'd paint the sea red with blood to keep him safe. Unlike _you_."

Lawrence sniffed, sending a condescending, disgusted look at said son, but was surprised that, for the first time since he had almost drowned and was rescued by a pirate, James' only reaction to such a look was to glare daggers at his father. Lawrence growled, turning to glare at the younger Teague, who was trying to get out from behind his father, who kept a tight grip on him. "I see no son of mine here. Only a trained guard dog for yours. I'm guessing you pirates truly _are_ a disease when a hard working man so easily comes to your side. For shame, Theodor, Andrew. What will your fathers think?"

Said ex Navy officers tensed at being addressed but didn't back down or cower. Life with Jack Sparrow tended to make you immune to mundane fears beyond of that for your life when facing the impossible, which was only improbable, really, in said man's presence. Arrogant, cruel pirate hunters fell way below their current fear levels. He was more of an annoyance, now. They'd practically been _groomsmen_ to Davy Jones! What more could Admiral Norrington Senior do to them?

"They would want us to be happy, sir, I believe." Gillete surprised them all by talking back. Jack grinned behind his Da's back. Annamaria had been good for the man. "They wouldn't want us to break our oaths of loyalty."

"Which you did," the old man said, eyes still locked on Teague's, his blood pumping. He was too much like his son, or was it the other way? It didn't matter. Norringtons were apparently forever drawn to Teagues and Lawrence and Edward had played this game for far longer than Jack and James have. Only Lawrence didn't have his son's high morals and Edward was not as merciful as his son. They were both ready to spill blood with an ease their son's feared and tended to avoid at all costs. That's why James acted against Beckett while his father joined forces with a man even worse than the deceased Lord. That's why Jack was respected out of love and Edward out of fear.

"We didn't." Gillete continued in the same tone he'd mocked Elizabeth about her warnings about undead, cursed pirates on the Dauntless and about the mermaid that had told them about it, finally drawing Lawrence's gaze at the smug tone. "We stayed loyal to the one we had sworn those oaths to. James."

"Lieutenant Gillete-"

"And we follow the Code now. We are no longer Navy, sir." Andrew continued as though the old man had not said anything at all. Groves was doing his best not to snicker at the look on Norrington Senior's face.

"We are pirates and we sail under the flag of Captain Jack Sparrow." Theodor took the pleasure of informing him with a bright smile. Lawrence glared but then a fox like grin that looked just nasty settled on his lips. His eyes were directed at the two Teagues and Barbossa, the Pirate Lords having moved to stand beside each other while the navy boys duked it out.

"Speaking of the Code, I know enough of it from lore and rumors that _this_ can only be done if the Pirate King declares war and can only be done _by_ the Pirate King. I don't _see_ a Pirate King in your midst, gentlemen. By your Code, you should all be killed for being presumptuous. Do your fellow pirates even know what you are doing here? They might be really angry with you.''

''The Pirate King _is_ here, _father_.'' The last word was spat out as James turned to face his father, Norrignton to Norrington and neither looking pleased to see the other. ''We are here by right and by his decree.''

''Finally broke your own Code and forced them to vote you for King, Teague?'' Lawrence mocked, still looking at his son, taking in the beard - much like the one he had had during his stay at Tortuga but a little more orderly - the tanned skin, the bleached hair that now looked almost blond under the sun when it hit it at the right angle, the hardened hands of a sailor, the flashing green eyes and he realized that for all that James still spoke and carried himself like a true gentleman, he had changed. Changed beyond anything Lawrence could recognize of what little he even knew of his son.

"Captain Teague has not forced anyone into anything, father. He's too noble and just to follow such a crude path."

"That's enough out of you, James!" The elder Admiral snapped at the former one, whirling around with difficult swiftness to face his son head on, actually turning his back - technically, his side, but the point is the same - to his longstanding enemy and rival. "I will not have you showing me disrespect, you ungrateful pup!"

"I've just spoken, Mr Norrington. I've been _as silent as the grave_ before this moment." An amused snort was shared between the junior Teague and Norrington, a cheeky grin on Jack's lips lighting his face up and drawing Henry closer like a moth to a flame, only to have James put a sword to his throat in warning. "Isn't that how you usually liked me?"

"You dare point a weapon at your future King?!" The enraged old man thundered, drawing his own sword and pointing it at James' throat, only to in turn be held at sword point by Jack, his black cutlass gleaming in the sunlight.

"I already _have_ a King." The condescending drawl of Commodore Norrington had the Admiral snarling like an animal. A little behind his back, Mourney was snickering like a school boy, enjoying the show. There was no love lost between him and the old Admiral and seeing him so railed up was a delight.

"Who?" Henry decided at this moment to make his presence here remembered properly again, pouting when Jack didn't look away from where he was staring James' father down, his own holding his old rival at gun point, his lover keeping the grubby Prince away. A cry from said Royal had the four breaking out of their Mexican standoff, snapping their gazes to where Jack the monkey had stolen Beckett's diary from Henry's inner pocket like the skilled little thief he was. The monkey shrieked at him before skittering up his master's body to sit on Hector's shoulder, handing him the little leather-bound book and taking the peanut that he got as a reward. Jack the pirate glared at said food before he was startled as Henry lunged for the book, only to find himself inches away from Barbossa's sword. "Give that back! It is decidedly against the rules of parley to steal from the other party!" He looked at Teague as he said this, who only shrugged noncommittally.

"Applies only to humans, that." Jack said by way of explanation for his Da, echoing his shrug. " _Pirate_ humans, to be precise. Though, if the non pirate party tries to steal someone else's booty, well, the Code is pretty clear on that. Better not try him, mate. Dreadful good swordsman."

"Why, thankee, Jack." Barbossa drawled with a smirk, critically looking over the book. "Ye're not bad yerself, when ye bother t' try."

"I learned from the best," Jack replied with a shrug and walked over to Hector when Andrew took his place protecting James from his father. They all looked into the book, Barbossa flipping pages after only a handful or so of seconds before all three and the monkey jerked back at the sight of a drawing of a half naked Jack on the deck of what had once been the Wicked Wench.

"Since when had Beckett seen ye naked!" Hector hissed at him, Theodor as red as a tomato. The horrified pirate didn't know what to say and greatly regretted that one time he had deigned not to dress in his shirt and coat in port, despite the stifling heat.

"Yes, you did." Another voice drawled from behind Captain Mourney and Jack went as stiff as a board, his attention drawn away from the book and towards whoever had spoken while James' eyes widened. Teague's narrowed and he drew his own sword to join the pistol, glaring at the man, a year or two older than Jack with blue eyes and long brown hair tied back in a low ponytail that would have matched James had he not spent two whole years nonstop in the sun, dressed in a fine dark blue coat - Navy, of course - but ordinary breeches and boots, a sword at his hip, hands free of any weaponry at the moment. "Hello Jack. Long time no see. I see you've surpassed your father."

"Fitzwiliam."


	19. Chapter 19

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

"Fitzwiliam." Jack greeted tonelessly, his eyes drinking up the sight of a once friend turned betrayer, the first to teach him how painful it can be when done by someone you cared deeply about. Fitzwiliam P. Dalton III had been a very close friend and his first rival, when he was just becoming a teen and had ran away from home, hating his family and piracy with a passion. They'd had a good number of grand adventures, most notable being the one with the Sword of Cortez and the Timekeeper, which was when he first met Davy Jones and fought supernatural things like ghosts and giant lizards and bargained with sirens - nasty folk, they were; not at all like their underlings the mermaids and almost as cruel as the cursed Davy Jones had been - but had ended with a betrayal that had left Jack willing to return to the Cove for a few more years with a reassessment on his thoughts that 'normal' society didn't have the pirates' cruelty, backstabbing and death.

The last time he had seen Fitzwiliam was when his Da released him of his magical ring's spell after the other boy had rowed them to the Misty Lady, and that had been in midst of a bloody battle for survival and dominance between Admiral Lawrence Norrington's marines and the Keeper's own men. He hadn't even known if he had survived and, his young heart still stinging from the betrayal, he had not cared. In the years following, he would at times dream of a time when adventures were just as fun and dangerous, but on a smaller boat, with fewer crew and lots and lots of laughter, waking up to thoughts and wonderings as to what had happened to the children who had once been the crew of his Barnacle.

Here one of them was, now, smiling at him like he had used to when they were just boys, only Jack could no longer detect that something mysterious about it that he had later learned was plotting. He had been a handsome young teen and he had become an even more handsome man, similar to James in built, about the same hight, but unlike his cousin, his back was straight not with years of Naval training, but the pride of a man well sure of his standing in the world, no matter the situation, fearing nothing. Then again, this same man had been once a boy who had followed Jack to crazy islands with freaky voodoo priestesses and mermaids and ghosts and cursed Captains of the Flying Dutchman and native tribes and ... Well, you get the point.

His smile was as genuine as it had used to be, before those last couple of weeks when he was supposed to hand over Jack to his uncle.

It tugged at the Caribbean Pirate Lord's heart like a half forgotten lullaby.

"Jack Sparrow." The Englishman greeted in turn, his smile widening just the tinniest bit. "Am I safe to guess that the rumors are indeed true? I always thought you were a better pirate than your father."

James was looking between his cousin and his lover with the same amount of confusion as everyone else but the two fathers were. Jack seemed a little taken aback at the older man's words. "How'd you know? Who would have told you? People have been awfully hush hush about it, after what had happened with his lord bucket."

A chuckle and a toss was his answer and Sparrow automatically extended a hand to catch it. His eyes rounded a little when he saw a piece of eight, feeling it still humming in his hand. It would not stop doing so until the matter was resolved, a warning to all that the danger was still about and prowling.

"A piece of eight? But I thought only pirates had those!" Groves said with incredulity, he and Barbossa completely forgetting about the - _very_ disturbing - book they had been reading through.

"You kept it?" Sparrow asked next, staring at the still smiling Fitzwiliam. He just shrugged again.

"Pirate." Was all he said and turned to wink at his younger cousin, starling James out of his gawking. Norrington Senior and Captain Teague had went back to glaring at each other, Lawrence having drawn his own sword, the two of them sliding the flat of their blades against each other, as if measuring how much the other had become rusty over the years. "Looking good, cousin. I do hope you're keeping him away from trouble. Jack has an uncanny ability to charm it." A grin. "Along with everyone else. Even the ever squabbling Brethren Court."

It took a moment for that to sink in before jaws hit the ground.

" _You're_ the Pirate King!?" It would seem only Mourney had the ability to speak from the Navy side after that bit of news registered. Lawrence was gaping between son and father, not sure what to think, precisely, since the image soothed more Edward Teague than his son, who was practically a parody of his father. In some way, at least. "Un _fucking_ believable!"

Said Pirate King shrugged casually. "What can I say? Between Jones, Beckett and Salazar as enemies and Calypso as an ally, it was a truly irresistible choice." He grinned. "That being said, as my ledger so far suggest as the best course of action to take when faced against me, you should just surrender to me now and I may let you live."

"Surely you don't think you can take on an armada with so little ships?" Henry, no longer smiling or using a pleasant tone, asked sharply, eyes zeroing in on Sparrow and having the same steely gleam to them that Beckett's had had, two years ago.

"Did it once b'fore, didn't we?" Barbossa asked rhetorically, casually throwing the book away, letting it fall into the sea in the shallows. He ignored the Prince's outraged cry as he dove after it, his personal guards catching him around the waist and not letting him get any closer to the pirates, and instead watched as strange, white little crabs sinking it beneath the waves and taking it away. The pirates all grimaced and waited for it.

A few seconds later, the sea rumbled, the howling of the winds became deafening for a second and the little island shook under their feet.

Fitzwiliam whistled. "Did I meet her? Calypso, I mean?"

"You don't have the Flying Dutchman this time. And we took more ships." Henry replied, ignoring, to the best of his ability, the rage of the before calm sea.

"Yes, actually." Jack replied to his once friend before turning to look at the royal. "Don't test me, whelp. The sea goddess ain't the only one who's fond of me. And we have enough ships to take you on."

"Is that a challenge, Captain?" The prince asked and Jack arched an eyebrow.

"Pirate _King_ , I prefer, _Prince_ Henry." He said with a sardonic smile. "And it is. I do hope you're man enough to accept it. Especially if what I hear about your intentions is true."

Prince George Henry VII laughed, but it was no pleasant sound. Matthew tightened his grip on his little dagger and inched closer to Jack, just as the others did, too. Mourney shivered behind him and Lawrence shifted uneasily away, seeing that same streak of madness returning to the man's eyes. "Oh, Jack! You speak as though I can't achieve my goal by more _forceful_ means." James was literally glued to Jack's side as soon as those words were out of that aristocratic mouth. "I'll bring you back with me to England, one way or another. People will _see_ you for the first time for what you really are. A magnificent, wild specimen, unique and unrepeatable. Untamable. But not unbreakable. I do think Cutler had nearly succeeded."

"And look at where he is now, at the very bottom of Davy Jones Locker, sentenced to suffer for all eternity." Sparrow showed his teeth in what might have been a snarl had he bothered. "I hear there's a spare space left, right next to him."

Henry definitely snarled. "Let us see, then, Captain Sparrow, who will reach the goal first." With that, he whirled on his heel, his men following immediately. Lawrence sent one last glower at the pirates assembled and turned promptly on his heel, all Navy like, marching back to their two longboats. Mourney glared after him but turned to follow, lingering long enough only to tip his hat discreetly at Jack before going after his companions. Fitzwiliam sent a challenging grin at his cousin and his cousin's lover before following after the rest of them, one hand arrogantly lifted as a farewell as he walked away.

Needless to say, only Jack wasn't scowling by the time the pirates reached their own longboat. "Why didn't you tell me you knew my cousin?" James demanded as he helped Jack back in. Jack would have been offended at being treated like a lady, but he found it charming how his Jamie still acted like such a proper gentlemen even two years after not being in any 'proper' company.

Sparrow looked at him, confused. ''I told you the whole story. I had thought you'd figure it out, since you knew who my Da was and what his business on your father's ship had been.''

''I can't _believe_ you, James! You knew who Jack's father was and you kept it quiet?'' Theodor whined as he settled to take one of the oars to row them back to their ships. Teague arched an eyebrow at him.

''It's a family matter, boy.'' He sat down on his son's right, once again keeping a tight grip on him, as though afraid his old enemies would somehow take Jack away from him. James was on his other side and enjoyed how close they were all sitting, since it meant that he was brushing up against Jack, a reassurance to himself as well.

''You said you had a plan?'' Andrew directed the focus on something else when he saw Barbossa open his mouth, no doubt to make a comment about what they had just learned. They needed to focus on more pressing matters than curiosity. There would hopefully be time after the battle was over for a proper story. Even he was intrigued, as he would have never thought the serious Teague could father the silly Sparrow. It seemed almost absurd to put them in the same boat, so to speak.

''When do I not? I'm Captain Jack Sparrow!'' Said man said with a grin and a flourish, standing up and doing a mocking bow without falling over or toppling the boat. They all just stared at him, obviously expecting for him to share it. Jack just winked at them and sat back down, looking out at the open waters not obstructed from view by ships and stayed quiet until they rowed up to the Black Pearl.

00000

The battle had started with a single cannon fired at the Black Pearl from the Navy side and it was all that was needed to push the pirates forwards when the fastest ship in the seas led the charge. The air was soon filled with booms of canons, shots fired from pistols, splashing water and howling wind that carried battle cries across the blue depths still separating the two fleets. One pirate ship sank before the Pearl reached the first ship of the Navy but two more Navy vessels soon joined it due to the contribution of flaming arrows. The battle plan was not much different than the one that had been used two years ago, and yet Sparrow demanded that only a dozen or so pirate ships are to cross the line of direct combat. He had given no explanation further than that it will save their lives. Not wanting to argue, they all stayed back after a certain 'line' that Sparrow marked by firing one of Singapore's fireworks when he passed it. Only the most famous ships crossed that line, it would seem, since the Black Pearl was followed shortly by the Empress, the Misty Lady, the Ghost, the Snake Charmer and a few other more infamous ships, the more durable ones.

The first clash sunk three Navy ships, just by Teague's two ships, the Pearl sinking two more as she whizzed by them, carried by the fast currents of Calypso's rage. Five more sank before the Snake Charmer took the first damage on the pirate side of things. The other ships, well beyond the line and miraculously keeping there - Calypso may not know Jack's plan in full, but she followed what she knew and offered her help - were firing a volley at the Navy, the wind carrying their cannonballs while hindering their opponents'. With the wind in their sails and the very sea at their side, this was a fine day for battle.

The Pearl was the first to board another ship as well as suffer a boarding, but her crew had increased in number once more, prepared for just that situation, expecting it. The pirates suffered the minimal loss of two injured men, the other ship was not so lucky and was left to blow up with her powder set aflame, the rest of it being taken aboard the black ship, as it was going to be a long battle. The Misty Lady boarded two ships at the same time, when the crew of said two ships tried to trap her between them for a crossfire. Teague, however, was too seasoned a pirate and while half of his crew were old sea dogs, they could still fight with the best of them and were experienced in these situations, boarding would-be attacking ships and dispatching the crew before they could fire, leading the younger ones with years of practice. The Troubadour, with its powerful cannons, could sink any approaching ship before they were in firing range.

The Snake Charmer and the Empress gad joined forces against a bigger galleon the size of the once magnificent Silent Mary, firing from both sides and taking unfortunate damage as well. Still, the two Pirate Lords and their crews were the ones to sail away, further into enemy lines on their surviving vessels while the galleon slowly sank beneath the waves, Calypso greedily dragging them into the depths. The Ghost was getting up close and personal, taking out several smaller ships at once, her slow movement drawing them in to the deadly trap.

The smoke from the damaged or destroyed ships was filling the air, as were the sounds of clashing metal and battle or death cries. The pirates both fought and plundered in equal measure, taking the ammunition and weaponry off of their defeated foes and using it themselves to destroy their allies. Jack even left his beloved ship's deck to board a ship as big as the Dauntless, turning her around and jamming her helm and letting her sail straight into the two charging galleons heading for her. The ship was smaller, yes, but the explosion of barrels of gun powder set off a chain reaction that had Jack whooping at the win. He hoped Gibbs saw that. It is a making of a grand new tale for Captain Jack Sparrow.

The battle had already lasted four hours straight and the sun was already approaching the horizon when the first, truly significant loss of the pirates occurred, the Snake Charmer sinking to the depths after a relentless volley of cannon fire. Thankfully, Barbossa and two thirds of his crew survived and were picked up by the Pearl and the Ghost. Hector had, without surprise on anyone's behalf, swam all the way to the Black Pearl and found himself fighting back to back with the Pirate King, the two most notable captains of this very ship exchanging banter as they protected each other's blind spots with an ease that came from years of looking out for each other, both reluctantly and willingly, as had been the case before the mutiny.

"Ye owe me a new ship, Sparrow!" Barbossa yelled over the noise, cutting down a brave, if foolish British man when he charged at the Caspian Pirate Lord. He laughed as he picked up his sword and met the next one with crossed blades, wringing the weapon out of his opponent's grip and stabbing him next. The third attack came from two burly men, but Barbossa skillfully sidestepped them, leaving them to Sparrow, knowing the slighter pirate's speed and flexibility will be their undoing. One was immediately cut down by the dark cutlass, the other maneuvered around until Jack hit him with the guard of his sword in the back of the head, knocking him out.

"Take yer pick an' we'll commandeer it!" Jack answered, gold and white teeth glinting in the sun as he spun to the right, cutting down a privateer that had snook past James', Theodor's and Andrew's triangle of steely doom and had made a lunge for them. He then took the dead man's sword and, using one of Will's own tricks for the absent whelp, threw it expertly into one barrel just as a black man made a charge for Norrington. He didn't see the blade embed itself in time and ran straight into the sharp edge, his head flying off his shoulders and over the rail, blood soaking the deck of his ship, the body soon following with a splash and Jack thanked his lucky stars that he won't have to clean that up.

Hector laughed at the answer and pointed at one of the ships roughly the size of his lost one, a 24 gunner with big sails that was bound to give him a speed advantage over most ships. Not the Pearl, or the Dutchman and maybe not even the blown up Interceptor, but it was of a similar built and it was bound to be fast. Jack grinned at his choice and called for Cotton to set course towards the ship. A little plundering never harmed anyone and je had enough men to spare for the proper handling of that ship.

"You mind keeping your head in the battle, Sparrow!" James, having overheard their insane conversation as he struggled to come over and take Barbossa's place at Jack's back, called as he took on three men, two privateers and a Navy officer judging from his blue coat, simultaneously without a problem.

"We won't be able to last long like this, Capt'n!" Gibbs called from where he had just clobbered a man half his age over the head with the butt of his gun, panting from the battle. He wasn't so young any more.

"He's right!" Annamaria, having taken the ex Commodore's place in the triangle of steely doom, called to her Captain. "Signal the other ships ta go into direct combat!"

"Belay that!" The Pirate King ordered immediately, fighting his way back to the helm. He took it from Cotton and expertly maneuvered his girl so her ready grappling hooks were aligned with Hector's chosen ship. "Hooks! Boarding maneuvers! Faster, ya lazy rats!"

"We'll get blown right out of the water!" Groves protested as well, cutting down a privateer that made a lounge for young Matthew.

"We need to last just a little bit longer!" Jack called, watching the sun sink lower and lower. Another half an hour, maybe, until sunset.

"We don't have any bit longer!" The temperamental woman snapped, cutting down a poor sod in her rage as she tried to stalk to her Captain. Seeing this, Jack took one of the lines and led the attack on Barbossa's soon to be ship with a yelp. "Sparrow!" She made to follow but ended up needing to protect Cotton as he held her steady at the helm. Barbossa, seeing as this was to be his ship, followed with the rest of the boarding party and they made fast work of the ship.

"Hoist yer colors, mate! If ya want to live!" Jack called from where he had just thrown an Englishman overboard, clinging to one of the ridging lines, watching as the sun, _finally_ , set. He blinked when he saw a green flash and wondered if maybe he was being too cruel. When one stray cannonball nearly hit the Pearl's yardarm but still hit the walls of his cabin, leaving it barely a bunch of debris, he decided he was not. "All pirate ships to a halt! Do ya hear me! Halt!" He hollered at the top of his lungs and Gibbs, Hugo and his father heard him. They relayed the message to the crew of their respective ships and carried on the message to the other ships and soon, strangely, every ship sailing under a pirate flag was just floating on the waves, rocking with the movement of the sea.

"Jack, just what are you up to!?" James called from the Pearl, watching as the Navy and privateer ships under the EITC flag drew closer.

"We're sittin' ducks, Sparrow! We need ta move!" Barbossa, at the helm of his new ship, protested sharply but grew silent when he thought he saw something moving just beneath the waves. "Sparrow?"

"Shh." Was his only answer, Sparrow climbing up the rigging into the crows-nest to watch the distance.

That's when they heard it, the first, haunting notes that sent chills down their very bones and tempted to draw them towards the railing, but they were too far to hear it clearly. The vague melody still reached them, soon followed by the very first terrified screams coming from the enemy lines. Men on the pirate ships cringed at the horrifying noise they were making, the wind carrying the sound as easily as though it were but a few feet away.

 _"My heart was pierced by Cupid_

 _I resent all glittering gold_

 _And nothing can console me_

 _But my jolly sailor bold."_

"Mermaids," scared out of his wits, Gibbs barely dared to whisper, shuddering in fear, all those who heard him or realized on their own following his example and moving away from the railing. "Help us, oh Mother of God, for we are doomed!"

"Abandon ship!"

"Turn her around!"

"Run fer your lives!"

"No!" Jack barked, sliding down a rope, landing deftly on the deck. "If you move, they'll think you prey!"

"They're not sharks, you idiot!" Andrew, panicked, yelled, quelling under the glare Jack sent his way.

"No, they're not and that's why they know not to attack those ships that _aren't_ moving." He stressed, pointing to their static, untouched ships and then, to demonstrate his point completely, to the attacked, _moving_ English ships, from where screams were still coming. " _Savvy_?" His voice was full of judgmental sarcasm and Andrew tried to inch closer to Groves, who was watching as fascinated as little Matthew as the mermaids with ease ripped apart one ship at a time. It put a chill in any sailor's bones, this sight.

Something clicked in James' brain, then, and he looked at his lover. "You _planned_ this. With Lucia." How had he not been suspicious of that before?

''But of course. Supernatural help always is of, well, help.''

The answer was followed by a slow, deliberate clapping coming from the captain's cabin as it slowly opened, revealing Fitzwiliam, an impressed smirk on his face. ''Bravo, Jack. To be expected of you, really, what with all the rumors that circle about you. Should have really anticipated this turn of events. Although, I must say, it is _very_ clever. Just have the mermaids do all the dirty work for you!" Dalton took out his sword and pointed it to Jack as he made his way closer to the pirate. "But tell me, what have you promised them that has them so eager to help?"

"'Tis the summer, luv. Ye all know wot a mermaid wants in summer, above human flesh for the feedin'." The Pirate King replied, drawing his own cutlass. It was a fine, almost black sword, made for him by Will Turner as a birthday gift last year. Jack was undoubtedly fond of it and she had served him well.

"Very clever," the son of the Earl said in turn before lunging at Jack, sparks flying as the steel of their swords clashed. Jack had met him with the practiced ease that had come from years upon years of fighting for his life against all sort of enemies, normal and supernatural alike. Once upon a time, Fitzwiliam had been the better swordsman out of the two of them, his fencing lessons giving him an edge over Jack's just developing personal style, as was usual for one from the Teague clan. They all had their personal fighting styles and when Jack had escaped the Cove, his was still not defined. For almost their whole acquaintance, the older boy had been the better swordsman, but by the time Fitz had betrayed him, Jack had fought all manner of things and had become better and better until he surpassed the static Fitzwiliam, showing the first signs of his pirate blood that ran for several generations. He had won their last two fights before he never saw Dalton again, until today.

They parried and sliced and stabbed and countered and evaded each other with ease, the fight looking almost like a lethal dance rather than a fight. They slipped into their old roles, neither giving it their all, judging each other's moves, getting a feel of each other, as it had been a _long_ time ago since they'd crossed blades. Fitzwiliam had gotten better, which was to be expected with the years separating their current encounter from their last. He no longer only made bold, obvious but swift and powerful sweeps and thrusts with his sword, rather choosing for a sneak attack here and there, trying to sweep Jack's feet from under him or disrupt Jack's footwork.

But Jack had improved as well. Even more so. Whatever life Fitzwiliam had led since their last encounter, it could not compare to the things Jack had lived through. Before even becoming the Captain of the Wicked Wench, Jack had seen and done more than Fitz could ever dream of. Jack, always the faster and more agile of the two, could not be disrupted in footwork, fairly dancing around his opponent, parrying even when his back was turned and he had to do it behind his back, looking over his shoulder. Two years of practice with Will and James had well prepared him for a swordsman of Fitz's skill level, altering Jack's style once more. The occasional duel against Davy Jones had him prepared for the strongest of opponents while duels against Barbossa had him anticipating any possible sneak attack. He was prepared for silliness, seriousness, strength, speed, sheer skill (the whelp and his Jamie were truly masterful swordsmen, if only Will could fully accept that no pirate will ever play fair; it was a wonder he still instinctively expected that, even after two years of being a pirate himself), cunning, storms, sun, wind, whatever. As Pirate King, they had all insisted, he had to train almost daily so he can keep his head on his shoulders. He was the first person to unite the Brethren Court. Everyone doubted another will be born with that ability for quite some time still.

Their duel lasted long, tiring, worrying minutes, the crew watching from the Black Pearl and on the commandeered ship, each swordsman drawing a little blood every now and then, here and there. James had to be all but restrained by gis once Lieutenants, not being able to bear just watching while his lover fought his cousin, once hailed as the best swordsman the Navy had ever seen. But Sparrow was doing extremely well, having less acquired wounds and somehow less breathless, his internal boundless energy making itself known even after a day's battle. The wind had picked up even more, whipping their hair around, making it all the harder for them to see their opponents.

"SAIL, HO!" Someone yelled, drawing the attention of the crew. "'Tis the flagship, Capt'n!"

"My father," James hissed, getting ready to bark commands in the absence of Jack since he was still fighting Fitz, when he saw the Misty Lady moving to intercept the incoming Navy ship, the Troubadour moving faithfully after her, cannons firing at the enemy. It would seem Teague was the one doing the chasing now. Or was he answering Lawrence's challenge? It was too dark to see the Keeper himself, but James had no doubt that the old pirate was as ready for this confrontation as his father undoubtedly was. James felt like he needed to choose a side as he realized his and his lover's fathers were about to engage in the very duel to the death Teague had warned him about.

He found himself hoping that the dreadlocked pirate would survive.

A cry from the commandeered ship had his heart stopping for one terrible moment, not daring to turn around and look reality into the face, fearing the worst. No, he couldn't be ... It was impossible!

"Fitzwiliam!"


	20. Chapter 20

**Sparrow Obsession**

 **Summary: Takes place two years after Sparrow's Bargain, when a new enemy endangers the pirates of the seven seas for a completely unexpected reason. Follow the drama, misunderstandings, adventures and complications that make up the everyday life of the Pirate King and his friends and crew. Sparrington and others.**

"Fitzwiliam!" Jack shouted in panic as his once friend, seeing one of the near dead crewmen of the commandeered vessel rise up not-quite-so-dead-yet and point a pistol at Jack's back in the middle of their duel, having showed Sparrow behind him, was hit with a bullet almost right into the heart and started falling onto the deck. The Pirate King barely caught him while Barbossa dispatched of the marine with a swift shot from his own gun. Jack fell to the deck with Fitz tightly in his arms, shaking the man until the blue eyes settled on him. Dalton smiled, seemingly at peace.

"Always knew ... you were a better pirate ... t-than Teague. Had some fun times, didn't we, J-Jack?" He tried to chuckle but just ended up coughing up blood. "B-best time of m-my life, it was."

"Don't talk, you idiot!" Jack chided, taking Fitz's ever present gentleman's handkerchief and pressing it into the bleeding wound. "Surgeon! I need a surgeon!" He called out to the crew before looking back down at his fallen once friend. "C'mon, mate. Ye'll be just fine. Just focus on ol' Jack, aye?"

"I'm glad you survived." Fitzwiliam disregarded his earlier order, patting Jack's hand on his chest. "You make a right legend, you know? Captain Jack Sparrow. 'T suits you." He closed his eyes, his hand becoming still but he was still breathing, still talking. "I'll say hi to that Spaniard friend of yours, if I see him. Betrayers don't finish too well, I've heard."

"Don't talk nonsense. You won't be meeting Armando Salazar just yet, you bastard." Jack shook him until he opened his eyes again, that eery smile still in place. "C'mon, mate. Ya can't just die now. Wot 'bout Jamie, 'ey? Yer cousin?"

Another gurgling sound came from the weakening man and he just shook his head meekly against the pirate's chest. "He seems fine ... with you. He'll be just fine with ... you." A bitter smile took over the eery one. "Never was good ... to him. Deserved better. Found better."

"I know. I ... I killed Nevil. He had it bad." Jack admitted, drawing Fitz closer when he grew cold and started shivering, hoping his body heat will keep him fighting a little longer. "Where th' bloody hell is the medic!?"

"Shot, sir!" Gibbs called from the Pearl's deck. "We've hailed the Ghost, but she's 'avin' difficulties gettin' here, Capt'n!"

"Blast!" The Ghost, for all that it was a legendary ship on the seas and the tongues of seamen, was legendary only for her extremely shallow hull and stealth attributes. She was even slower than most ships and by the time she gets here, it could be too late. He looked down when Fitzwiliam tried to rasp his name but another coughing fit stopped him. A lot of blood spilled from his mouth and Jack did his best to repress his panic. "Stay with me, mate!"

"Can't. 'S cold, Jack. So cold." The man even shuddered extra hard before falling utterly still. "'Twas an honor, m' friend. Look out for James for me."

"No! Don't you dare, Fitzy! Did you hear me? I called you Fitzy! You hated that!" Jack yelled desperately, shaking the Englishman. James, who had come up behind him just a second ago, watched with lost eyes, not knowing what to think. Yes, he and Flitzwilliam never quite really got along, but they were still blood. Losing him didn't feel half as bad as losing Nevil had, but it still hurt. "Surgeon! Medic! Anyone, damn you all!"

"He's gone, Jack. Don't waste yer breathe on the dead an' honor him not with yer grief but yer revenge." Barbossa said as he, too, came to the Pirate King's side. He nearly flinched at the look Sparrow shot him, frantic like a hurt and cornered animal. Hector held his tongue.

Someone else didn't.

" _Oh_ , he's a fine one!" A lilting, melodic female voice said, making James stiffen and the rest turn around and point various weapons at the woman peeking over the railing from the sea. Panicked yells and gasps and curses echoed over the two ships as they took her _other_ features and her tail and fins, dread churning in their stomachs, fear making them go utterly still. "Oh. He's hurt." The blond pouted, looking from Fitzwiliam to Jack.

Sparrow nearly cried in relief. "Lucia! Please! Please save him." He all but begged, carefully bringing the almost dead man to the railing at the mermaid princess. Her eyes fairly glowed in the dark, her pale skin shining under the moon, blond hair almost gold in color. "Please. I know you can. It's his only hope."

The pinkish finned mermaid looked at Dalton again before tilting her head at Jack. "The only way I can save him is if I make him mine, Jack. You know that."

"But he'll live. And he loves the sea, if not as much as I do." The Pirate King bargained. "I'll visit more often than we already agreed on!" He added in a ditch effort and Lucia hummed. Then she smiled, hoisted herself higher and leaned over the wooden railing, ignoring how dozens of guns were cocked to fire at her as she planted a smooch on Jack's cheek.

"Okay!" She all but chirped, grabbed Fitzwiliam with deceptively thin arms that held more strength than a sailor's and dragged him overboard, her lips planted to his. Jack stopped any shooting that might have ensued by covering her exit.

"Wot are ye doin', ya imbecile!? She's takin' 'im to the' depths to eat 'im fer dinner!" Barbossa tried to reason with the Black Pearl's eccentric Captain while shoving at his shoulder to move him away, but Jack stayed in place and Barbossa backed off as hisses came from the water, eyes wide and fearfully focused on the seven mermaids swimming below.

Jack didn't seem concerned. "That's the only way we can save his life."

"By letting a mermaid kill him?" The incredulous Annamaria called from the Pearl. Sparrow just gave them all exasperated looks as he waved his little mermaid protection squad away.

"She's not going to devour him. Well, not in the whole cannibal way, anyway." At their blank looks, he tsked and took hold of a line to swing himself back to his beloved ship. She was singing in his ears, calling him back, jealous of the mermaids that might steel her Captain. "She needs a mate. Didn't we already discuss what mermaids need in summer? This was the only way to get them all to leave Whitecap Bay. Take these unfortunate buggers instead of haunting those waters and wrecking innocent ships." He shrugged. "At least they'll taste true pleasure, aye?"

"An' what of those who can't fall under their spell, Jack?"

"Dear misinformed Hector. Only those who are _truly_ in love are immune, and even _they_ are at least drawn to their song. It _is_ a pretty song." He said, swinging back onto his bonny ship, patting her railing comfortingly as he made a beeline for the helm.

"If Bootstrap's story is to be believed, ye've been immune long b'fore ye met yer Commodore." The Caspian Pirate Lord yelled and James flushed, glaring at him as he got back to the Black Pearl as well.

"Not a Commodore, that one. And I'd already fallen in love with my ship! There was no place in my heart for their song. Right pissed them off, some of them. In the beginning at least." Jack chuckled, the sheep groaning under his touch, practically skipping in the water, on the waves. The screams and mermaid song had ended in the distance, an uneasy silence having fallen over the sea. The mermaids had had their pick and were no doubt converting their chosen mates to merpeople as we speak. Immortality at sea? Had Jack not so truly loved his Pearl, he would have been tempted. But he had two loves now, he thought with a shy glance and secret smile in Norrington's direction. The man was consoling Andrew for the relentless teasing Elizabeth was bound to bring upon him once they went back to the Cove for his own mocking of her story about cursed pirates and mermaids who warned people about them.

Jack wondered if Will knew he was going to be a Da, briefly, before he remembered his own Da and looked over to the epic battle going on. The Troubadour on fire had him sharply spinning the wheel and setting course for the Misty Lady before anyone could brace themselves. "Prepare to board! You are to save and keep safe the Keeper on your lives, you hear me!? On the double, men! Barbossa! Help Sao Feng!"

For once, Barbossa made no comments and did as he was told, setting course for the struggling Empress while the Black Pearl raced for the Misty Lady. By the time they arrived there, half of the ship was covered in dead bodies, most foolish marines who thought bow and arrow cannot pierce their jackets and coats, with only a few of the Keeper's men downed. The Troubadour, though, had not been as lucky, many of the younger crewmen dead or bleeding. Jack saw red when he saw Ivan and Ian supporting Victor to the ship's surgeon and he snarled when he found the surgeon of his own Da's ship dying in a pool of his own blood a few feet away from a dying crew member. Jack shot them both so they don't suffer any longer, promising them both that he will avenge them and for their spirits to rest easy.

The distant boom of a triple cannon didn't need him to look up for him to know that the Flying Dutchman wasn't here just to collect dead and dying souls. Jones had started early with his collecting, yes, but he was also adding to the numbers by firing at not yet deterred ships with his deadly cannons, scaring them away from further battle. The sudden flash of lightning and the roar of thunder before pelting rain followed was sure to help. The sea breeze carried the menacing of a scorned woman looking for revenge and Jack would have felt sorry for them had he not at that point spotted his Da fighting Lawrence Norrington.

Jack Sparrow unleashed all of his Teauge rage with a cry on the left over unsuspecting Navy.

The battle thus resembled hell.

00000

The battle ended up lasting until sunrise, when finally, the Royal galleon fell in battle, sinking to the depths in fiery glory that awfully reminded Jack of his own Wench burning, all those years ago. The rest of what was left of the Navy had hoisted white flags and turned to flee, using most of the winds and currents and not at all ashamed when they heard the pirates' victorious cheer in the distance. By the time the last of the Navy ships was out of sight, the Flying Dutchman had collected most of the dead or certainly dying souls, getting assistance from the pirate fleet as soon as it was allowed by the Pirate King for them to cross the established line he'd given them earlier on. Many a near drowned officers, marines, ordinary sailors and privateers were hauled onto the decks of their enemies, but were not harmed, protected by the decree of Pirate King Jack Sparrow.

Raggeti and Pintel even fished out Mullroy and Murtogg from the sea, much to the three ex Navy men's surprise and badly hidden annoyance. They pleaded employ on the 'marvelous, neigh uncatchable, beautiful, glorious, fast, magical, sometimes cursed but obviously very, _very_ real and faster than the HMS Interceptor' Black Pearl, much to Jack's amusement. James promised him retribution later for actually accepting them, but he _did_ have to agree that the two idiots were great comic relief, as dumb and crazy as Pintel and Raggeti and people will soon get used to them. If Annamaria doesn't haul them overboard first, that is.

The Navy men all pleaded parlay, to be left in the nearest port and a promise not to return to the Navy or reveal the location of Shipwreck Island if they are allowed to walk free now, which Jack was inclined to allow them, in turn even offering them positions on his own or any other ship or in the Cove, as long as they followed the Code. Surprisingly, a third of the survivors did take him up on the offer of joining a pirate crew, men who loved the sea but not the restrictions and duties of Navy. They had no qualms about being given a trail period with less pleasing jobs of two weeks the least before they can actually do any sailing and they were eager to prove themselves to the Pirate King, helping repair as many ships in the trail period they were given. The less damaged vessels were crewed to the full and escorted the rest of the survivors to their port of choice after having surgeons and medics check them over.

All in all, seventeen pirate vessels had sunk with the Navy ones, somewhere around two hundred souls to be ferried across. When they met up with Jones and Calypso later, before they left to finish collecting the rest of the unfortunate souls killed at sea during the Prince's attempts to draw Jack's attention, the Captain of the Flying Dutchman had just shrugged as their stares settled on his fully cursed self, saying it was better to get it all over with, adding a few more numbers today but never over tasking him again in the future.

There had been a suspicious sound coming from his cabin and his hammer-head shark had gone in with a suspicious looking club before emerging when it stopped, whistling. Seeing as he then gave little Matthew his dagger back, bloodied to the hilt, Jack decided to turn a blind eye to it all, especially when Davy commented on ... checking up on the Locker with a not so innocent smile. He outright didn't look at Calypso lest he has to take certain measures to ensure the rights of parlay in his father's absence.

Speaking of the Keeper of the Code, he had triumphed in his last duel against one Lawrence Norrington, knocking him out rather than killing him, apparently for James' sake. The younger Norrington had been touched and had thanked the man when he and Jack finally got a moment to visit him in the sick bay. He was having his shoulder wrapped at the time, his left thigh already in bandages and some cream smeared on his face for a shallow cut on his cheek. Apparently, obsession with Teague had kept Norrington Senior in as good a shape as he could be with his years, but Teague, still much an active pirate, if not as often, had been better and had prevailed. Lawrence was put in the brig for the day and night, to be secretly dealt with in the morning after Jack had some rest, but the next morning found him hanging from his own shirt, dead, leaving some creepy message in blood on the hull of the Misty Lady's brig. The local witch and shaman of the Shipwreck Island were immediately called to ward off his haunting spirit, while the Troubadour, freshly repaired, if not enough for a longer sail or fighting, took them out to give the old Admiral a burial at sea, worthy of the Keeper's rival.

James, feeling cold, had immediately sought Jack's warmth, as soon as they made it back to his quarters in the Teague home. Sparrow had easily given it, taking James' grief in stride and later holding him as the first salty tears raced down his face. The last of James' family may very well be gone. It was a sudden shock and James needed comfort Jack was all too willing to give.

The next day, James recieved twice blessed news when the Dutchman was spotted by the watch, calling for Sparrow's attention outside of the Cove. The Black Pearl set off and met them somewhere around noon, carefully sailing her to the once again recovering ship with a crew of only James, Annamaria, Gibbs, Theodor, Andrew, Ragetti, Pintel, Marty, Bootstrap and Mr Cotton, Will being too nervous and fretting a husband/future father to not faint at the mere thought of Elizabeth on the pirate ship. The two had decided to stay at the Cove until their wee one was ready to set sail with the Pearl's crew. Asking Jack at what age he had set foot on a ship hadn't exactly been helpful, seeing as the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean was born on one. Instead, they asked James and settled for six years of life at the Cove with occasional leisure trips with 'uncle Jack'. Sparrow had looked so confused and hurt, the Turners baffled by his reaction and his father laughing his ass off a few feet away that James had actually joined him, it was that hilarious.

At least Elizabeth got her wish to meet the Teague family, in awe of being in the presence of some of the most infamous pirates in the seven seas. Meeting actual Uncle Jack had the Turners looking between father, uncle and son in varying degrees of horror, curiosity and caution. One Jack Sparrow was enough, thank you very much.

On the Flying Dutchman, with its crew already half released from the curse, they had been greeted with the sight of Nevil cursing at Calypso for trying to dress him in what he called 'untasteful, primitive rags of an underdeveloped man that would make him look like he was wearing a child's skirt', much to the sea goddess' and the crew's amusement. Jones wasn't as amused, massaging his forehead and begging Calypso to allow him to dump Nevil onto Sparrow, but he was already part of the ship, part of the crew.

James had sobbed his relief on his friend's shoulder, asking why he had stayed behind and receiving the unexpected answer that it was for James himself and the way he had treated him the last time they saw each other. He had shaken Jack's hesitant hand before he and James secluded themselves for an hour, just to talk. When the Dutchman sailed away again with the promise of another visit in some months, it was to a lot brighter mood.

Jack didn't complain to the tightness of James hold on him.

The second pleasant surprise interrupted their private moment on Jack's favorite wreckage in the Cove as they made out, Fitzwiliam wolf whistling and congratulating his cousin on his technique, Lucia giggling beside him. Thankfully, James had thrown away much of his shame after two years as a pirate and had just flipped him off before reluctantly letting Jack go so they could greet the two mates. Judging from how close they were standing, the love bites in ... rather interesting places of their bodies and the twinkle in their eyes, they seemed to be doing quite fine. Lucia still harbored some small amount of emotion for Jack, but Fitzwiliam seems to have fallen for her head over heals and was determined to win her over. He looked healthy and didn't regret what had happened, thanking Jack before they had to leave unless someone sees them and tries to hunt them down.

James was just relieved not all of his family was gone.

His grip on Jack didn't lessen for days, though, as though fearing his lover will disappear as well. Jack was pleasantly solid in his arms and it eased some of his initial panic. They set sail after two months spent in the Cove, Jack overseeing his father's duties until the man was in a fit enough state to do it on his own once again.

The Black Pearl had lost some of its crew, some having died in battle, others succumbing to their injuries in the Cove and some simply leaving. Marcus had finally retired from active piracy, apologizing to Jack earnestly. His old body was already battered enough and he wouldn't be able to continue much longer without losing his life. A few other from the Wicked Wench's crew had to leave for much the same reasons, a few younger ones leaving because they've found a lass to settle down with. Bill had chosen to stay with the crew, saying that for all that he loved his son and daughter in law, they were sickeningly lovey dovey these days and he could not stand it for much longer. He had promised to come for the birth of the baby, as had Jack, so they'll be back soon enough. Mr Cotton, Marty, Pintel, Raggeti, Murlloy, Murtogg, Mr Cotton's parrot, Annamaria, Theodore and Andrew stayed, as well as a few never faces. James, of course, was not leaving Jack's side. They had both pretty much adopted little Matthew Simmons, who had been half proud and half horrified at having killed a man, even if it had been the man who had hanged his sister. He tried to take comfort in knowing Prince George Henry VII had been alive after the stab to his gut and that Jones had simply taken him to imprison him, but even the little boy knew what that meant: the Locker. He got over his guilt after Jack and James escorted him to Port Royal so he can visit his sister's grave, finally crying his little heart out before 'manning up', placing a single flower on her grave and walking off.

James didn't comment on Jack taking one of the plain, white pebbles from next to the grave or its appearance in his hair a day later. He simply played with it as well as the other new assortments - a small seashell given to him by the mermaids, a cube of wood that had come out of Fitzwiliam's sword handle, a coin given to him by Marcus as a goodbye gift and a new braid - when his lover, exhausted for the night, slept.

Some people said that the world was becoming a smaller place. Other claimed it was still the same and there was only less in it. Others yet claimed that all that was once gone can come back. Sometimes, the Navy of whatever country believes that the age of piracy is over, that they will all one day simply cease to exist, face extinction like any other species man hunts eventually does. And maybe it will happen, one day, in the far off future, centuries and millennia from the time of the legendary Black Pearl and her Captain, the second Pirate King of the Brethren Court and fourth Pirate Lord of the Caribbean.

Maybe, some day, it could happen.

For now, though, Captain Jack Sparrow will rule the seven seas and protect the pirate interests in these waters, becoming a legend that surpassed them all. He will sail to all ends of the map and beyond, see what no one else has seen and do things no one ever will again. He will live immortally and forever in our hearts as the best pirate there ever was.

Now, if only they could stop the further spread of the Sparrow obsession ...

 **THE END**


End file.
